Music in the Franxx
by thisissparta789789
Summary: Two experienced parasites, Codes 085 and 099, are reassigned to Squad 13 soon after the first battle with Strelizia. Both have several secrets, a hidden disdain for APE and the Nines, and a tendency to play music they find from ruins and convert into modern computer files while they battle Klaxosaurs. Both will leave an impact on humanity that will far outlast them. (RATED M)
1. Escape: 1

A brown-haired boy and a light brown-haired girl with shoulder-length hair, both aged around 18, approached a mansion in what looked like a large forest. They both carried a luggage bag each as they looked at each other and rung the doorbell. "Yasuto," the girl said to the boy. "Let's hope Squad 13 takes us in well."

"Same," the boy replied as he brushed his shoulders. "Kyouko, we'll be fine. This represents a fresh start for us."

Then, the door opened. Inmediately, a girl with short blue hair covering one of her eyes answered it. "Hello? Are you the two new parasites? Code 085 and Code 099?"

"Yes," Yasuto replied. "I am Code 085, and my pistil is Code 099, though we named ourselves Yasuto and Kyouko. I believe Hiro is in this squad, right?"

The girl, surprised, replied, "Uh, yeah! He's in Squad 13. I assume you were named by him in the Garden? Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" She then extended her hand for a handshake. "I'm Code 015, the leader of Squad 13. As you may know, my "name" is Ichigo. Kinda fitting given my code number, huh?"

"It sure is," Kyouko replied as she and then Yasuto shook her hand. "We were not exactly named by him, but when we visited they Garden soon after we became pilots, we saw you guys and heard Hiro naming you. You guys grew up pretty well, I see."

"I suppose," Ichigo replied, not knowing how to react to the two. She thought to herself, _"These two seem a bit familiar, but..."_

The two then walked into the mansion, where they were met by a grand staircase that split off into two staircases leading to the upstairs. "Wow," Yasuto said. "This place looks pretty nice."

"It is," Ichigo replied. "Let's go meet the rest of the squad." She then lead them to the dining area in the house. "You'll meet the rest of the squad there."

When the three walked into the dining room, the entirety of Squad 13 was sitting and chatting with each other. They then all turned to look at the three, looking over the two new pilots.

"Everyone," Ichigo announced to her squad. "This is Code 085 and Code 099, also known as Yasuto and Kyouko. They are our newest pilots. They've been pilots for 5 years, and will be a much welcome addition to our team. Their Franxx unit, Heliconia, is all set to roll if we get something. Make them feel welcome."

Immediately, a girl with longer hair said to them, "Hi! I'm Code 556, also known as Kokoro. My partner is Code 214, also known as Futoshi." A slightly larger boy with brown hair waved hi.

"Another new pilot? And two of them?" A girl with pigtails seemed a bit annoyed. "Isn't one new one enough?" After Ichigo shot her a glare, she backed off and introduced herself. "Sorry. I'm Code 390, also known as Miku, and my partner is Zorome, Code 666."

"Hi," Zorome said to the two. "Yes, I know my code number is the devil's number. I'm not the devil, trust me."

"You sure act like it sometimes," Miku slyly said to him.

Zorome, annoyed, shot back, "Really?"

Ichigo said to the two, "It's fine. That's their way of interaction. It can be entertaining to watch sometimes." She then smiled.

"I'm Ikuno," said a girl with violet hair and a ponytail. "My code is Code 196. My partner is Mitsuru, who is Code 326." Mitsuru waved hi at them without looking.

Finally, a boy stood up from the table and walked towards the two. "Hi, I'm Hiro, Code 016. I heard you two talking about me earlier."

"Yeah," Kyouko replied. "We once visited the Garden as pilots and saw you naming your fellow parasite candidates based on their code numbers. We thought it was cool, so we came up with our names the same way." She then looked him over. "I must say, you look a lot different from back then."

A girl with pink hair then shot her a glare suddenly. Yasuto recognized her immediately. "What? No way!"

The girl told them, "You're not admiring my Darling in a longing way, are you?"

"No, not at all," Kyouko replied, surprised. "You must be Code 002 of the Nines. Or, well, previously of the Nines."

"That, I was," Zero Two replied. "I was Nine Iota back then. Now, I just go by Zero Two."

Yasuto said to her, "I'm surprised you chose a brand new squad like this one to make yourself a home." He thought to himself in worry, _"At least she was never like the other Nines. The rest were all a bunch of stuck-up pricks. But... This one..."_

"Who are you piloting with now? We know 086 got killed in the last battle you guys had." Kyouko then sat down at a table.

"I'm piloting with Hiro, my Darling," Zero Two replied as she pointed at Hiro. "He apparently doesn't remember it, but the two of us were amazing out on the battlefield."

"Yeah," Hiro himself replied as he shrugged. "I guess I did pilot, and I did pretty well."

Then, two older people, about their mid-20s, stepped in. The girl, who had long red hair, spoke first. "Hello, everyone! I'm back! As it was in the Garden, I'll be your caretaker here too. If you don't know who I am, which would be surprising, I'm Nana, your APE-assigned caretaker here at Plantation 13. Me and my partner Hachi will watch over you and ensure you are taken care of."

Hachi then bowed to the squad and said, "My name is Hachi. I will work alongside Nana to ensure you guys remain safe and sound. Thank you."

As the rest of Squad 13 smiled in joy of their former Garden caretaker coming back, Kyouko and Yasuto were in absolute shock. Yasuto thought to himself, _"What the fuck?! They're... THEY'RE CARETAKERS NOW?! CODE 007 AND CODE 008 ARE CARETAKERS?!"_

Nana felt something was off about the two new parasites. She turned to Hachi and whispered to him, "I don't know why, but something feels weird about 085 and 099."

"Same here," Hachi whispered back to her. "Nothing that would be bad, though. Just the suspicion that I've met them before."

Yasuto broke the ice by going up to both of them and shaking their hands as he said, "Hello. I am Code 085, and my partner over there is Code 099. We have been pilots for 5 years now, and we are delighted to be assigned to your squad, Nana 13 and Hachi." He was able to keep his shock under wraps as he introduced himself and his partner.

"I can tell you will be a pleasure to work with," Nana replied to him. "I'm glad to have you and Code 099 on the team. Your experience with Heliconia will be a major help for us."

Kyouko also shook their hands as she said, "Thank you for the kind words." She thought to herself, _"Look at what APE has done to them. They've basically become slaves."_

* * *

As the two relaxed near the small riverbank in Mistilltein, the two chatted about the day's events. Kyouko said to Yasuto, "So far, the squad seems very nice. Their leader is nicer than the last one."

"You can say that again," Yasuto replied as he washed his face in the water. "What he did was bullshit, and he fucking deserved that punch." He then sighed. "Anyways, I still can't believe Nine Iota, 007, _**AND**_ 008 are assigned to our squad."

"Me neither," Kyouko replied. "What a coincidence, eh? Anyways..." She then began to unbutton her uniform shirt as she seductively approached Yasuto. "Since there's no cameras out in this area, and since they're all still inside, we can christen this place, if you know what I mean..."

Yasuto chuckled before he moved in for a kiss. After they split, he replied. "We could go for a quick little romp. Just gotta make sure nobody finds out like the last 100-something times we've done this." The two then laughed as Kyouko practically ripped her uniform shirt off herself and then undid her bra.

"Let's have some APE-triggering fun," Kyouko replied as she tackled Yasuto to the ground and landed on top of him, making both of them laugh.

* * *

Later, as the pistils in Squad 13 got changed, Miku groaned as she put on underwear, "Damn, these things are freaking tight." She then adjusted herself. "Why can't they make them a bit bigger so it isn't literally a fight to put them on?"

Kyouko said as she took her bra off, "I think I need to get a new bra. Kokoro, if you think your chest is big, you have no clue." She then pointed to her exposed chest. "I'm still growing, and I haven't gotten a new set of bras in a year and a half. You'd think APE would care about that, but nope." She shrugged as she also sighed.

Kokoro looked over at her as she put her bra in her locker and said as she looked at her chest and Kyouko's chest, "I do notice that your... Well... Breasts are bigger. Will mine grow to that eventually?" She blushed slightly in slight embarrassment.

"Maybe", Kyouko replied as she also struggled with her underwear. "Since me and Yasuto are older than you guys, it's even more so of a challenge for us to put on the special underwear." She then adjusted herself.

"Anyways," Kokoro replied. "I hope we get used to actual connecting soon. It feels so weird outside of training."

Miku then suddenly approached her from behind and hugged her, saying to her, "It's as if butterflies are flying all around your stomach and spreading into the rest of your body!" The two then laughed.

Ichigo then told them, "It's not that bad. It kinda put me at ease, in fact." She then stood in the machine that put on the suit she wore in the Franxx. As it scanned her body and put the suit on, she said, "It did feel a bit weird at first, but I got the hang of it."

"Same here," Kyouko replied. "Listen, for all of you, connecting for your first time does feel weird. Trust me, you'll only get better at it every time you do it. I've been doing it for 5 years." She then turned to Ichigo. "Say, Ichigo, are you sure you wanna pilot with Hiro eventually?" She looked concerned for her new leader.

"Trust me," she adamantly replied. "I. Will. Be. Fine." She emphasized each word in that sentence to prove her point, and she was clearly getting frustrated.

As Kyouko, Kokoro, and Miku stepped into their scanners, Miku said, "Speaking of Hiro, I still can't believe he rides with another girl once and she's already calling him "darling." It's so cute." She then laughed. "Maybe those two will make a good pai-"

Suddenly, she was interrupted when Ichigo punched the half-door on her scanner in frustration. "Enough! For God's sake, stop doubting I can do this! Me and Hiro are only 1 number apart. Read my lips: When the time comes, WE. WILL. BE. FINE! That is all I have to say on the matter. Thank you!" She then walked out of the changing room as Ikuno stepped out of her scanner.

Miku said in confusion, "Gee, what was that all about?"

"I have an idea," Kyouko replied. "I think she wanted to pilot with Hiro the whole time, and was angry when he failed his aptitude test with... Who was that girl he was with?"

"Naomi," Ikuno replied in a quiet voice. "It was Naomi."

"Yeah," the older brunette replied. "Naomi, Code 703. I think Ichigo was going to request Hiro to be with her and Goro to go with Naomi if they passed." She thought to herself, _"There's a lot more to it than just that, though. These guys may not know it yet, but what Ichigo is experiencing is love."_

"Still," Kokoro said to the group as her bodysuit was put on by the scanner. "Her reaction seems a bit disproportionate."

* * *

Later on, as Squad 13 got ready to roll out, Kyouko and Yasuto hopped into Heliconia, their Franxx. For their first drill, these two would leave their bay early and guide Squad 13 through the motions.

Heliconia was originally a black standard model Franxx when it was first delivered to the two parasites 5 years ago. However, over the years, it had received a variety of modifications, some by APE and others by the pilots themselves. Like Squad 13's unique Franxx, it now had a moving face that appeared when it was activated. However, unlike their Franxx, Kyouko's body was not completely immobilized when piloting, and she could freely move her head and speak through her regular body, which would be replicated by the facial movements of their Franxx unless she activated a mode called "Stealth Mode," which allowed for her and Yasuto to speak to each other without anyone else hearing them. Among the physical changes to their Franxx included the removal of its original yellow goggles and replacement with flip-down red goggles, the addition of missile batteries to the forearms that could fire up to 20 missiles at once, 10 on each forearm, to complement the original spear harpoon, the modification of said spear harpoon by replacing the original harpoon with a perforated harpoon that could implant itself in a Klaxosaur and then fire off hundreds of metal shotgun shells, the repainting of its spear harpoon to a dark crimson, and the repainting of its black sections on its body to red and its gray/white sections to light yellow to match the colors of the flower they were named after. These modifications were done both as experiments and as a form of repair due to damage sustained over the years. If Stampede Mode was activated, it would go down to all fours like all other Franxx, its "mouth" would expand into a larger mouth flap to fit sharp teeth, and its eyes would transform into a bright red with no pupils or irises.

As Heliconia stood outside the closed Franxx bays, Kyouko said to Hachi, "Do you wanna give the speech, or me?"

"Either one," he replied from a command center. "You've heard it plenty of times, after all."

"Got it," she replied. She then said to Yasuto, "Ready?"

"Of course," he replied as he looked out to the now-opening bays.

Kyouko then said to Squad 13 through Heliconia, "Okay, here's the rundown. Hachi will give us the overall strategic instructions, but Delphinum, piloted by Ichigo and Goro, will be the field commander and make any and all tactical decisions. Any decisions made by her are **final** unless overruled by Hachi. Now, when you connect for the first time, it will feel at bit weird. Trust me, it only happens for the first time. All other times, you will feel fine. Remember, communicate, communicate, COMMUNICATE! Over 80% of line of duty deaths among parasites are caused primarily or in part by a lack of communication between pistil and stamen. Don't be part of the problem, be part of the solution. If you go down in a real battle, the rest of us have to stop what we're doing to rescue you, and now we'll have two major problems to deal with. As long as you keep talking to not only your partner, but your fellow teammates in other Franxx, you will most likely be fine. So, now that that's out of the way, connect."

Yasuto then said to Kyouko, "Good job with that speech."

"Thanks," Kyouko replied as she smiled. "Say, what music do you wanna put on for practice? I was thinking some Journey might be a good idea. Throw on Escape."

"Same here," Yasuto replied as he pressed the onscreen button for an app on his HUD in the Franxx called "Stored Music." He then scrolled down to an album called "ESCAPE BY JOURNEY-FOUND AUG 8 2062 (FIND #1-1)-RELEASE DATE JUL 17 1981" and selected it. As soon as he did, the first song in the album, Don't Stop Believin', started playing. The stamen said, "Ahhh, I always love it when this song comes on."

As the other Franxx units stepped forward, Futoshi said to Kokoro in Genista, "How was I? Was I bad?"

"Not at all," Kokoro replied as she smiled and chuckled. "You did pretty good."

Zorome, in his usual somewhat arrogant self, replied to them, "Quit it with all the lovebirds crap. Me and Miku were the first to finish, after all. Take that, double-digits!" Zorome then had Argentea point at Delphinium.

Kyouko then jokingly said to him, "You know, being the first to finish isn't always a good thing." Yasuto could barely contain his laughter at the sex joke that flew right past everyone else's heads.

"Well," Goro said to himself and Ichigo. "Looks like he's in high spirits."

Ikuno then stepped in and said, "What exactly is the point of competing like this?"

"I'll show you why," Zorome replied as he made Argentea do several high-skill front flips in front of the team. As Argentea maneuvered almost seamlessly, the rest of the team looked on in curiosity and concern. "How's that?!"

"Be careful," Miku yelled at Zorome. "You're gonna-" Then, suddenly, Argentea lost its balance, and it began to fall. Thankfully, Delphinium reached its hand out and grabbed a hold of Argentea before it crashed into the ground, averting disaster.

Yasuto said to himself as he facepalmed, "Oh great, this shit again. There's always that one stamen in every squad..."

Ichigo asked them, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Miku replied, dizzy from the ride.

Kyouko said to the gang, "I kinda expected that. Miku, were you overextered at all?"

"I'm fine now," she replied as Zorome had Argentea dust itself off.

Then, Hachi broke up the conversation by radioing out, "Line up in formation with Delphinium in the center and advance. Heliconia, follow up behind them and give reports to me about their progress."

All of the team then radioed out, "Roger." The 5 Franxx units then proceeded out into the barren desert that stretched for miles around Cerasus Plantation for their training.

Ichigo then radioed to Heliconia, "Heliconia, we won't let you down."

"Thank you," Kyouko replied.

As they rolled out into the sunset, Hiro walked along the outer platform observation deck of Cerasus in a Franxx training unit, exercising himself and trying to blow off steam. As he came to a stop to watch the rest of Squad 13 roll out, he said to himself, "I swear, I will pilot again one day, whether it's with Zero Two or someone else. I know I can do it." He then continued along his run, determined in his goal.

* * *

Later that night, after everyone else had returned to their quarters, Kyouko and Yasuto stayed up to install a new set of songs into Heliconia's computers. After plugging in a laptop into a small USB port in the side of Heliconia's right leg, Yasuto said to Kyouko, "Alright, I'm in. All I gotta do is now navigate to the Music folder we created and put it in there." He then selected the .flac files they had converted a vinyl album they found to and copied them to Heliconia's Music folder. As it loaded, he looked over the Franxx from the bottom, looking for any dents.

"With the sudden change in squads," Kyouko said. "We haven't had time to convert that News Of The World album into .flac files. I'm glad we're getting along to it. It's a great album from what I've listened to."

"Hell yeah," Yasuto replied as he labelled the new album in Heliconia's music folder "NEWS OF THE WORLD BY QUEEN-FOUND FEB 20 2067 (FIND #22-1)-RELEASED OCT 28 1977" before closing out the folder, having successfully installed it. "Alright, it's done. Tomorrow, we'll put in The Game by Queen and that will complete our haul from our 15th find. Say, it says here that with that album installed, we now have 212 songs installed here. Nice."

"Say," Kyouko replied as she wrapped her arms around Yasuto from behind while giving him a longing smile. "One of the songs on there is like sex in the form of music. Get Down Make Love, it's called."

"Oh yeah," Yasuto replied. "Maybe we can find a spot away from the cameras and go do that ourselves."

"Certainly," Kyouko replied as Yasuto closed the laptop before standing up.


	2. Houses of the Holy: 2

Futoshi, Zorome, Mitsuru, and Yasuto were outside kicking a basketball around while awaiting an assignment. As they did, Futoshi said to the gang as he passed the ball across the courtyard to Zorome, "I hope I can pilot as well as Hiro did one day in that Franxx he was in."

Zorome groaned, "Are you kidding? He didn't pilot it! Hell no!" He then held the ball in his hands.

Mitsuru chimes in with a rumor that he had heard, saying to the group, "I heard that that girl he piloted with has the ability to pilot a Franxx by itself, so perha-"

"All pistils do," Yasuto suddenly interrupted Mitsuru with. "All pistils can pilot a Franxx by themselves for a limited amount of time, though Code 002 can do it for a comparatively long amount of time compared to you guys and even Kyouko. The reason they do not normally do it is because it will damage them if they do it for too long. When this happens, it's called Stampede Mode. Your Franxx will go down on all-fours and slightly change form. I'm surprised they didn't yeah you guys this. They did when me and Kyouko first became parasites."

"See?" Zorome felt that his point had been proven. "So that girl activated Stampede Mode or whatever and just took Hiro for the ride!"

"You didn't see the whole thing," Yasuto them interjected as he began to add onto what he was saying. "Strelizia, the Franxx of Code 002, was originally deployed with both her and Code 086. However, in the course of the battle, Code 086 died in the line of duty, forcing Code 002 to activate Stampede Mode. Me and Kyouko were looking trough the footage of the battle from security cameras located along Cerasus, and we saw the exact moment Code 086 died and Code 002 took over from the outside. We also saw the moment Hiro stepped into Strelizia, and from then on, Strelizia was no longer on all-fours, indicating that Stampede Mode was no longer in effect."

Zorome, aggravated, exclaimed to Yasuto, "You think you're some know-it-all, huh? I'll believe you when I see those tapes myself!" He then noticed that Hiro was walking by the group. "Hey! You think you're special, huh?" He then tossed the basketball over to Hiro, which took him by surprise and hit him right in the shoulder, knocking him back.

Yasuto said to Futoshi, "He didn't have to be that much of a dick about it." Futoshi modded.

"Can it, new guy," Zorome snapped back at him. "This is between me and Hiro." He then turned to his target. "Trust me, you won't ever pilot a Franxx."

Hiro turned to him and angrily replied, "I know what I did, and I piloted! I know I did!"

"Hey!" Yasuto exclaimed as he split both of them up. "Shut up, both of you! Keep fighting, and Ichigo will deal with this. I'm sure neither of you want to deal with your leader when she's angry."

Zorome and Hiro gave each other dirty looks before they turned away from each other. As Futoshi stared at the scene, he said to himself, "Glad that's over." He then asked Yasuto, "Say, Yasuto, you never really introduced you or your partner to us in full, like how it was in your past teams."

"Ah," Yasuto replied to him as he relaxed and calmed down. "Well, my first squad was Squad 9. However, everyone aside from me and Kyouko got killed in a battle, which resulted in us being placed in Squad 15. We were there for a while until an incident happened that I cannot get into detail about now, hence why we got moved to you guys."

Futoshi, feeling bad that he had brought up bad memories for his team mate, apologized with, "Oh... I'm sorry I asked..."

"It's fine," Yasuto reassured him. "There's nothing wrong with asking."

* * *

At the Headquarters of APE, the Seven Sages met to discuss the imminent "kissing" of Plantations 13 and 26 in order to exchange fuel and supplies. Gorilla said to Papa as he stretched his arms, "You know, those two parasites we sent to Squad 13 seem to be doing good so far. They haven't gotten themselves in trouble yet."

"Give it time," Tarsier replied quickly to him, scoffing off any notions that Yasuto and Kyouko were somehow "reformed." "Those two will cause trouble again soon, trust me. We should have deactivated them when we had the chance. No matter how much we try to correct their behavior through treatments, they aren't affected at all."

"Enough," Papa interrupted. "Tarsier, I get that you are frustrated, but let me remind you that these two parasites, Codes 085 and 099, are some of the best pilots we have outside of the Nines, if not _the_ best. It would be simply too risky for us to deactivate them. All we can do is reprimand them if they get way out of hand and hope that they keep fighting well. Besides, I think that with how unique they are, an experimental squad like Squad 13 is the _perfect_ fit for them, especially since Code 002 is now assigned to them. If it's true that she and Code 016 really piloted, the combined power of Strelizia and Heliconia in the same squad would be unstoppable."

* * *

"A mock battle with me in a Franxx?"

At the briefing room of Squad 13, the whole squad met before Nana and Hachi, who stood before a giant screen containing a map and information about Cerasus and the surrounding area. They had just proposed that Hiro would pilot with a pistil in the squad in a mock battle to see where he was in terms of his abilities.

"Indeed," Nana replied to him.

"And depending on how well you do," Hachi added. "We may promote you to parasite. So, go ahead and pick any pis-"

"I'll do it," Zero Two almost immediately replied, cutting Hachi off. "After all, you are my darling."

"Wait just a minute," Ichigo also equally quickly interjected. "Let me do it. As the leader of Squad 13, I should be the one doing the testing as long as we can connect. Also, Code 002 is not an official member of Squad 13."

Mitsuru, feeling something was off, asked Ichigo, "Why do you want to pilot with Hiro specifically? You already have Goro as your partner."

Yasuto added, "He's right. Is something else going on that makes you feel like you need to pilot with Hiro?" He immediately gave Kyouko a look and a nod as they both came to the same realization about Ichigo: She had feelings for Hiro, but did not realize it just yet due to APE withholding such information from the parasites.

Kyouko thought to herself as Nana continued with the briefing to Squad 13, _"Ichigo is playing a dangerous game by falling in love with Hiro. Given what I know about Zero Two, she would not take kindly at all to Ichigo and Hiro being together. I just hope this doesn't get too problematic, but I have a bad feeling it will. If only APE's laws didn't prevent us from properly teaching the squad about how to express those feelings, then this impending disaster could be avoided."_

* * *

For the mock battle, Delphinium, piloted by Hiro and Ichigo, would face off against Argentea, piloted by Zorome and Miku. To ensure a fair fight, Heliconia, piloted by Yasuto and Kyouko, would act as a referee and call the fight if it got out of hand.

As the two combatants got ready, Yasuto and Kyouko watched from Heliconia in anticipation. The brunette up front turned to Stealth Mode and said to her partner, "Do you expect Zorome to pull something dirty during the fight?"

"To be honest," Yasuto replied to her. "I can easily see it. I don't know why he's so insistent about Hiro not piloting. Like, dude, calm the fuck down, there's no need to get so physical and hateful about it." He then shrugged. "Hopefully, he mellows out. However, it isn't so much Zorome pulling some dirty shit I'm worried about. It's Hiro."

"What about him?"

"I'm starting to think that he may be only able to pilot with Zero Two," Yasuto replied, making what seemed to be a wild observation. "Think about it. Those two definitely piloted together, regardless of what some idiots think. Remember when we tried piloting with other parasites in Squad 9 as an experiment?"

"Oh yeah," Kyouko said as she recalled an experiment their first squad did about a month into being parasites. "I tried piloting with Code 177, and you tried piloting with Code 101. At least me and 177 managed to walk on a straight line for a bit before we failed. You and 101 moved one step and fell over." The two then laughed loudly as they remembered the memory. "You think Hiro and Zero Two have that deep of a connection despite piloting only once? We at least piloted together throughout all of training and 5 times in Squad 9 before the experiment. I wonder what could cause that deep of a connection just one time."

"True," Yasuto replied. "Well, it looks like they're about to start." He then turned off Stealth Mode and radioed out, "This is Heliconia, standing by as safety."

"This is Argentea," radioed our Zorome as he made Argentea jump into the air, slightly scaring Miku. "We are ready to go."

Then, out of nowhere, Delphinium actually managed to start up, surprising everyone. As its eyes came into view and it stared down Argentea, Yasuto smiled and said, "I guess he proved them wrong."

"Let's do this," Hiro and Ichigo said together as Delphinium confidently marched forward, a training baton in its hand.

"I agree," Zorome called out as Argentea swung at Delphinium, just barely missing as the latter ducked down.

"Damn it," Miku replied. "We missed!" Then, she noticed something about Delphinium. "Huh? Hey, guys, are you alright?"

Delphinium was no longer moving, which scared Yasuto and Kyouko. "Oh shit," Kyouko said through Heliconia. Yasuto then moved into the battlefield slightly to get a better look as Kyouko called out, "Ichigo! Hiro! What the hell happened?!" They saw that Delphinium's face had disappeared, meaning that it no longer was operational.

They then heard Ichigo radio out, "Damn it! The link went bad! Give us three minutes for a time out!"

Miku called out in disbelief, "A time out?! Hell no!"

Zorome replied in agreement, "Exactly!"

Kyouko said to Yasuto, "What should we do?"

"Wait and see," Yasuto replied. "They haven't broken any rules yet. What's going on in there?"

Zorome, inside the cockpit of Argentea, began to grow impatient and angry with Hiro. He decided that enough was enough after waiting a whole minute. "Agh, to hell with this!" He then had Argentea give Delphinium a very sudden and hard roundhouse kick, knocking it to the cold hard ground and shocking the rest of Squad 13.

Yasuto said to himself in shock, "What?!"

"Heh, this is too damn easy!" Zorome then laughed as Argentea looked over a deactivated Delphinium. Then, Argentea made its way to Delphinium before standing over it. "This really does prove I'm the best pilot here! Maybe I can pilot Delphinium with Ichigo, too!" He then readied Argentea's training baton to stab Delphinium.

This annoyed Miku, who declared to him, "What?! You wanna pilot with another girl and leave me in the dust?! Really?!"

Zorome just brushed off the remark as Argentea moved in to stab Delphinium in the neck, which would have given the Franxx a very nasty blow. Everyone watched in anticipation as they expected Delphinium to be severely damaged.

Then, suddenly, Argentea stopped dead in its tracks and began to twitch, almost as if it was hesitant. Yasuto noted this, and said to Kyouko, "That last remark by Zorome must have made Miku hesitant to act. That won't be good for their connection."

The impatient stamen in Argentea said, "What gives?!" Then, suddenly, Argentea stumbled and fell right on top of Delphinium with a loud metallic thud, starling both stamens and both pistils involved. "Damn it! We fell!"

Nana stepped in and radioed to Ichigo, "Ichigo, status report? Ichigo?"

When she got no reply, Yasuto also chimed in, asking her, "Hey, Ichigo, Hiro, are you guys okay? What happened?" Even so, Ichigo completely ignored them.

"Just give up already," Miku tried telling her stamen, to no avail.

"Give me a few more seconds, alright?!"

Then, suddenly, Delphinium began to move again. However, it was not because Hiro had connected again. Instead, the first signs of Stampede Mode had begun to show. Immediately, Nana recognized this and called out, "Ichigo, don't! Piloting a Franxx by yourself is incredibly dangerous!"

Ichigo, tears flowing down her face and in incredible amounts of pain, replied back to her with a defiant and loud, " **SHUT UP!** " Then, Delphinium got up and grabbed ahold of Argentea by wrapping its arms around the other. As Miku screamed in fear, Delphinium then rammed Argentea into a wall at a very high rate of speed.

Yasuto, deciding that now was the time to end the battle, said, "This has gone far enough. Kyouko, kill it."

"Got it," Kyouko replied as Yasuto had Heliconia march right into the field of battle to where Delphinium and Argentea had crashed. She yelled out to both of them, " **HEY!** BOTH OF YOU, DEACTIVATE YOUR DAMN FRANXX UNITS **NOW!** THIS FIGHT HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH!"

"Because both Franxx units have been rendered inoperable," Hachi stated to all of Squad 13. "This mock battle us declared to be a draw and is over."

Kyouko then activated Stealth Mode to talk to Yasuto privately, "This confirms my suspicions. Somehow, Hiro had a deep-enough connection with Zero Two just that one time that he can only pilot with her."

"It sounds crazy," Yasuto replied in disbelief. "But you may be onto something." He then sighed and wiped his face in exhaustion. "Damn it, Hiro... What happened to that bright young boy in the garden who inspired us to give us names and fall in love with each other?"

* * *

About half an hour later, as Zero Two walked down an empty white corridor near the gate where they had the mock battle, she saw the two new parasites down the hall talking to each other and wondered what they were discussing. _"Those two new guys have always interested me, dating back to when they did some work with the Nines. If things had been different and they were born the right way, they could have easily been part of us based on their skills."_

Then, Kyouko noticed Zero Two looking at them. She turned and said, "Ah, Zero Two! Can you talk to us for a sec?"

The pink-haired horned girl thought to herself for a second and then said, "Sure. Why not?" She then walked over to them. "So, what's up?"

Kyouko looked at Yasuto, prompting him to start. "Oh yeah... Uhh... Zero Two, can we ask you a question?"

"Shoot it," she replied, stretching her arms behind her head. "I may or may not give you a good answer."

Yasuto then cleared his throat. "Do you honestly think Hiro piloted with you?"

"Of course," she almost immediately replied. "Darling piloted with me the whole way, and I loved every minute of it."

"That brings us to our next question," Kyouko then interjected. "And a theory we have."

"Ooooh," Zero Two replied, interest piqued by their theory. "I like those."

"You see," the brunette began. "We need to know this: Do you think that you share a deep connection with Hiro?"

"I mean," Zero Two replied as she shrugged. "I guess. My darling and I did have a good bonding experience, especially since it was his first time. After all, I do call him 'Darling' instead of Hiro."

"Yeah," Kyouko replied. "Which leads me to our theory. We think that that one time you piloted with him was so deep in terms of connectivity that Hiro is now only able to pilot with you, and ca-"

"And can pilot with nobody else but me," Zero Two interrupted with, finishing her sentence. "I knew you were gonna bring that up, and to be honest, I agree."

"Oh," Yasuto replied, surprised she accepted it at seemingly face value. "Well, that takes care of that."

Zero Two then smiled and giggled. "I guess it does, Yasuto and Kyouko. I guess it does." She then walked away from them. "Well, I'll see you two later."


	3. In Through the Out Door: 3

Yasuto and Kyouko met with Nana and Hachi in a briefing room that overlooked the city below during a meeting to see how well they were adapting to Squad 13. They also wanted to discuss Zero Two. "I see you two are adapting well," Nana told them. "Papa made a good choice bringing you two to Squad 13."

"He did," Yasuto replied as he bowed in respect. He then stood back up again. "Life in a regular squad wasn't for us, I guess."

Then, Kyouko raised her hand to get the attention of Nana and Hachi. The latter asked, "Yes, Code 099?"

"I would like to make a note about Code 002," Kyouko began. "We both think that something happened while she and Code 016 were piloting. Whatever it was, it ensured that Code 016 can only successfully pilot with Code 002, hence why he was unable to pilot with Code 015."

Nana took about a minute to process what she just heard. Then, she sighed. "I... I don't want to believe that, but... There have been cases where the bond between two pilots is so strong they cannot physically pilot with other parasites. Aren't you two one of those cases?"

"Indeed," Yasuto replied. "We are, Code 0-" He then very suddenly stopped himself, almost calling Nana by her old code number. "Sorry, I'm a bit tired. I meant Nana." He thought to himself as Kyouko gave him a 'REALLY?!' look, _"Fuck, that was waaaaay too close."_

"I see," Nana replied as she looked over a folder's contents. "We will have to take that into consideration. Don't tell anyone else about this yet."

"We promise," they both said at the same time, lying to her since they had already told Zero Two. Both of them thought, _"We've already broken it..."_

* * *

In the lounge area of the mansion, Futoshi, Kokoro, Zorome, Ikuno, Kyouko, Mitsuru, Miku, and Yasuto relaxed and talked about the fight the day before. "I imagine the whole mishap Delphinium had during the fight put the kibosh on Hiro being a parasite," Futoshi said to the group, concerned for Hiro.

Ikuno pushed up her glasses and said to Kyouko, "You did say that the connection was brief according to Ichigo, right?"

"Yeah," she replied as she looked down at her hands on her lap. "It was not a pretty sight to see."

"I told you guys," Zorome once again arrogantly replied. "There's no way that weak shit would pilot. It was a foregone conclusion."

"Says the stamen who only could get a draw against an unstable pairing," Mitsuru added, reminding Zorome of his own failure.

He almost immediately shot back with, "Hey, that's because Miku fell over! That's not on me!"

Miku, annoyed, replied back to her partner, "My fault? Do you remember what you said that threw me off?"

Zorome scoffed, "Pfft, whatever. It doesn't matter anyway."

"Guys," Kokoro pleaded to the two of them. "Stop fighting already. You'll hurt your connectivity."

Yasuto then chimed in, adding to Kokoro's point, "Eh... Me and Kyouko were the same way when we first started, and look at us now." The two then met eyes and giggled. "You still annoy the hell out of me sometimes though."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko replied jokingly. "And you do, too."

"Either way," Ikuno interrupted their laughter with. "As I was saying, I don't think Papa would exactly accept a parasite who can't pilot."

"True," Futoshi replied, looking down at a piece of bread in his hand. "We saw so many kids disappear from the Garden because of that."

"It was so sad," Kokoro added. "Especially when Naomi had to leave."

For about a full minute, everyone remained silent, pondering to themselves about the thought of Hiro disappearing to wherever they thought rejected parasites went. Of course, only Kyouko and Yasuto knew the truth, and it horrified them. Kyouko thought to herself, _"They may not be dead, but to have your consciousness and body trapped in a state of suspended animation like that through cryogenics is probably worse than dying."_

Then, Miku piped up with some criticism of Squad 13's leader. "To be fair, it does seem like Ichigo is biased towards him for no reason. It's not good for a leader to do that." As she began to speak again, Kyouko and Yasuto noticed the subject of her criticism standing nearby and tried telling Miku through panicked body language to shut up, but she did not listen until it was too late. "It perplexes me how Goro puts up with that- aaaaand she's right behind me, isn't she?"

The two parasites nodded as Ichigo said to Miku in a stern voice, "How Goro puts up with what, exactly?"

Goro then walked in, hearing his name mentioned. "What's going on?"

"Aaaaand Goro's behind me, too, isn't he?" Miku then turned around as she gave what was possibly the worst poker face ever in an attempt to deny what she had said. "Eheheh... Nothing, Ichigo and Goro..."

"Look," Ichigo groaned. "I'm not biased or anything towards Hiro. I simply recognize that he has massive potential, and I will do everything in my power to unlock it, since that is what's best for the team as a whole. With an unlocked Hiro by our side, we will be unstoppable. Even if he was unconscious, he did save us. I believe in him."

"Ichigo," Mitsuru began. "I get why you're interested in him. But since he was unconscious, he was only taken for the ri-"

"I said it before," Yasuto interjected. "Stats from Strelizia's journey in that fight prove that there had to have been a stamen inside it with Zero Two, and Hiro is the only option."

"The stats could be wrong," Mitsuru said back to the older parasite. "It is said that Zero Two can pilot by herself even without that Stampede Mode you mentioned." He then turned back to Ichigo. "Hiro, even for a double-digit, was a cut above all of us. We were all certain he'd become our leader. But I guess real life had different plans for him. Hiro could not become a true parasite. He's not what he used to be. We need to stop trying with him. It's getting pathetic."

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner, Yasuto and Kyouko communicated with Dr. Franxx, who wanted to check in on both of them directly to see how they were adjusting. "I'm impressed," he said to the two. "I thought you two would find it hard to adjust since this most recent iteration of Squad 13 is brand new, but I guess you two fit right in."

"Yeah," Yasuto replied as he smiled. "I guess the fact that Squad 13 Mark III is an experimental custom squad helps. If this had been a regular mass-produced squad, we may have ran into issues."

As the two kept talking, Kyouko thought to herself, _"Something just isn't adding up at all with Hiro's past. Children in the Garden don't just suddenly lose their abilities and go from the valedictorian of their group to failing the final tests. Something had to have happened to him, but I'm afraid to ask. I have a few ideas, but..."_

Suddenly, Dr. Franxx asked Kyouko, "Hey, Kyouko, you seem a bit off. Is something bothering you?"

"Huh?" Kyouko was slightly startled by his question. "Oh... I... You don't have to answer this if the answer is confidential, Doctor, but..." She then took a deep breath. "Did something happen to Hiro in the Garden? You don't just suddenly lose your abilities like he did without any explanation."

Werner was startled by her question. He muttered under his breath," Shit..." He thought to himself, _"How did they figure it out?"_ "All I can say is that we did run Hiro through a medical procedure, and there was a complication that may have damaged his abilities. I cannot get into what the procedure was or why it was done, unfortunately, due to that information indeed being confidential."

"I understand," Kyouko replied. In her head, she was frustrated by the half-assed answer given by him. _"Damn it... They won't even tell us about the specifics... It had to have been bad."_

* * *

"We have received sortie orders from HQ," Hachi said to the squad during a briefing.

Immediately, the reaction from everyone was of some nervousness and worry. Futoshi nervously asked, "What?! We're being sent to battle already?"

"Don't panic," Nana reassured all of them. "You won't be facing a large klaxosaur like before. In fact, this one is much smaller." She then used a clicker to pop up a holographic map of a magma energy mine. "You will be facing a Conrad-class that's been harassing this Level 8 mine. A Conrad-class is a bit smaller than a Franxx, so one shouldn't be able to overwhelm you by itself."

Hachi then added, "For this mission, Strelizia will not be taking part. Additionally, Heliconia will only be observing your progress from the ground above, and will only intervene if deemed necessary."

Both Yasuto and Kyouko were surprised. Kyouko raises her hand and asked, "Why exactly are we being relegated to the sidelines for this fight?"

"HQ wants the rest of Squad 13 to experience a fight without a highly experienced pair of pilots like yourself," Hachi explained to them. "Don't worry, this is only for this first fight. For all other fights after this, you two will be regular participants. As for the battle itself, Ichigo and Goro will have field command. That is all."

"Everyone," Hachi then finished with. "Godspeed, and get prepared to enter battle."

* * *

At the docking station, Kyouko and Ichigo talked to each other before going their separate ways. "Is the mock battle still bothering you?"

"I can't let it," the bluenette replied. "I'm the leader of the team, after all. If I break down, the whole operation collapses."

"True," Kyouko replied as she wrapped a shoulder around Ichigo to comfort her. "Hey, listen, I know what you did with Hiro in the cockpit of Delphinium. It's fine."

Immediately, Ichigo blushed in embarrassment. "I thought that that kissing thing would really work. I was wrong."

"Listen," Kyouko replied to her. "You can't tell anyone else, but me and Yasuto have been kissing for a long time. Truth is, it really has not much bearing on how well you connect with someone. We connect just the same as we did before we found out what kissing was so long ago." She then looked up and saw Hiro staring down at them from above. "I know that you're good friends with Hiro, best friends in fact. Look, one day, he'll find a partner he can truly ride with. It may not be you, but as long as he rides, you should be happy for him."

"You're right," Ichigo replied as she gave a smile. "Well, I'll see you out there, Kyouko. Thank you."

"No problem." The two then fist-bumped before going their separate ways.

About 10 minutes later, Squad 13 got ready, connecting with each other and starting up their Franxx units. As always, Yasuto and Kyouko were the first to fully connect, doing so with almost no hitch. Then, soon after Heliconia went live, Kyouko turned to Chlorophytum and noticed that it had not yet been activated. "Huh?" She decided to radio Mitsuru and Ikuno to see what was going on. "Hey, Mitsuru, Ikuno, what happened?"

Inside the cockpit of Chlorophytum, Ikuno grew more and more frustrated by the minute as she tried to keep connecting with Mitsuru. "Fucking hell, just connect already!" By now, sweat was pouring down her face and forming a puddle below her.

Mitsuru radioed to Kyouko, "We're stuck here."

"Damn it," Kyouko replied. She then radioed Ichigo. "Delphinium, I don't think Chlorophytum is gonna be able to get off the floor."

"Got it," Ichigo radioed back through Delphinium. "Delphinium to Headquarters, I am requesting that Chlorophytum be taken off of this mission or at least delayed due to a 10-27."

"10-4," a dispatcher at Cerasus Headquarters replied. "Chlorophytum, you can go 10-8 at this time."

"Chlorophtyum, 10-4," Ikuno reluctantly replied, not wanting to give up.

Kyouko then radioed Headquarters as Heliconia and the other three Franxx units rolled out. "Heliconia to Headquarters."

"Heliconia, go."

"Do you want us to take this assignment in as a 10-14, or hold fast as the 10-13?" Both her and Yasuto hoped that they would be able to get to fight.

"You can remain the 10-13 at this time," Headquarters replied back, disappointing both of them.

"10-4," Kyouko groaned.

Yasuto said to her, "That fucking sucks. Those three will have an even tougher time now."

* * *

FRANXX UNITS 10-CODES:

10-1: Call barracks by telephone

10-2: Return to barracks

10-3: Call Plantation Headquarters by telephone

10-4: Acknowledgement

10-5: Repeat your message

10-6: Stand by

10-7: Verify location of attack

10-8: In service on the air

10-9: Off the air

10-10: Current location

10-11: Give a radio test count

10-12: First-arriving Franxx unit give preliminary report

10-13: Assign Franxx unit to Rapid Intervention Team

10-14: Assign Franxx unit to Main Operations

10-15: Return all Franxx units except 1

10-16 Return all Franxx units except Leader Franxx unit

10-17: Proceed to location of attack at reduced speed

10-18: False alarm

10-19: Training sortie

10-20: Patrol sortie

10-21: Standby sortie

10-22: Reported Non-Klaxosaur Attack (e.g. other alien races, human warfare)

10-23: Reported Klaxosaur Attack

10-24: Non-Attack Sortie (e.g. natural disasters)

10-25: Confirmed Non-Klaxosaur Attack, auto-dispatch next closest squad to standby in loading dock

10-26: Search and Destroy Sortie

10-27: Franxx unit has lost connection

10-32: Protocol 32 activation

10-45: Injured civilians (Code 1=Dead, Code 2=Critical, Code 3=Serious, Code 4=Minor)

10-66: Mayday transmitted for missing, trapped, lost, and/or injured Franxx unit or parasite, auto-dispatch next two highest alarms, mobilize Rapid Intervention Team for rescue/recovery, and notify APE HQ

10-75: Confirmed Klaxosaur Attack, auto-dispatch 2 Franxx from next closest squad to the attack location and all other Franxx to standby in loading dock

2nd Alarm: Dispatch all Franxx units from next closest squad and put third-due squad on standby

3rd Alarm: Third-due squad to scene, fourth-due squad to standby and shuffle Franxx units for coverage

4th Alarm: Fourth-due squad to scene, fifth-due squad to standby and shuffle Franxx units for coverage

5th Alarm: Fifth-due squad to scene, sixth-due squad to standby and shuffle Franxx units for coverage


	4. The Game: 4

**_4 and a Half Years Prior_**

The scene was chaos. Before a pre-customized Heliconia spattered in the blue blood of Klaxosaurs laid a horrific scene in the vast desert before them. The decaying bodies of many Klaxosaurs laid on the ground, as well as the smashed remains of what was once Squad 9. The leader Franxx of the squad, piloted by a stamen by the name of Code 094 and a pistil by the name of Code 133, laid before Heliconia, being the last to fall just as they had killed the last Klaxosaur soon after their plantation was practically wiped out. In the foreground laid the burning remains of Plantation 9, which had been left to be destroyed due to the activation of Protocol 32 per the orders of APE.

A younger Kyouko and Yasuto, each aged about 13 and a half, both turned off Heliconia and opened up the cockpit, not caring if there was a clear and present danger of a second wave of Klaxosaurs. As they descended down to the ground from the cockpit, both armed with rifles, they laid their eyes upon the scene.

Yasuto said to himself, "Oh... Oh my God... No..."

Kyouko took one step onto the ground and collapsed to one knee as she began to feel sick. "Yasuto... I don't feel so good..." She then dropped her rifle to the sandy ground and threw up, sickened by what they had seen. Her partner ran to her side and held her hair back as she continued to get sick, the vomit painting the desert floor a sick brown and gray below her.

Yasuto grabbed his radio and talked through it, saying, "Heliconia to Plantation 29 Headquarters."

"Go ahead," a dispatcher replied back.

"Heliconia is the last Franxx unit active out here," Yasuto replied back to her. "My partner and I are lost, and we need to find our way back."

"10-4," the dispatcher replied. "Due to the 10-32, we cannot transmit a 10-66 at this time."

"Heliconia, 10-4," Yasuto radioed back. He then looked over at their leader's Franxx unit. "Fuck... 094 and 133 are in there."

Kyouko stood up and wiped her mouth off before spitting on the ground. "Fuck... That was awful..." The two then ran over to the cockpit of the other Franxx, which had been separated when it was destroyed.

When they got there, Yasuto noticed that the door was locked. "Stand back! I gotta shoot the lock off!" He then aimed his rifle at the locking mechanism on the cockpit door and fired, blasting it away and forcing the door open. As the two looked inside, they were met with a horrifying discovery. "Holy shit... CODE 094, NO!"

Code 094, a boy with black hair, had a piece of metal sticking out of his chest, and he was clearly dead. His eyes were wide open, and his blood was splattered all over the cockpit. They then looked at Code 133, and noticed that she was bleeding badly from her legs. Kyouko ran to her and said, "133, can you hear me?!"

"Huh," 133, a girl with cherry red hair, weakly said to them. "Code 099..."

"Her legs are banged up pretty good," Yasuto replied as he checked them out, holding back his emotions from the loss of Code 094. "We need to carry her out."

"Guys," 133 said to both of them. "I don't think I'm gonna make it. Besides, 094 is gone."

"You're gonna fucking make it if it's the last God damn thing we do," Kyouko said, trying to reassure herself more than anyone. "It's our duty not just as parasites, but as medics. Code 094 may be gone, but you still need to live."

"But I can't pilot without him," Code 133 replied to her as Yasuto began wrapping up her legs in a bandage. "I can't."

"You don't have to live just to pilot," Kyouko told her as tears fell down her face. "Trust me when I say there's so much more to life than just the Franxx."

"I know," Code 133 said as she began to move. "Me and Code 094 did that thing you guys did a week ago just before the battle, and it made me realize that the two of us were so much closer than we thought." She then turned to the body of her partner, who she had just revealed was also her boyfriend. "Please, let me die beside him in peace."

"No," Kyouko said to herself as she began to lose her composure. "We were supposed to one day leave these machines behind us and live together how humanity should have lived. We were going to start families together, Code 133. You and 094, and me and Yasuto. It's not fucking fair!" She then punched a piece of metal in frustration.

Yasuto said to her, "I don't think she'll make it, Kyouko." He then began to carry her. "The least we can do is honor her wish."

"I guess," Kyouko said as she wiped away the tears and helped her partner move 133 beside 094. Once they were finished, Yasuto closed 094's eyes to keep him at peace. "Here you go."

"Thank you," 133 said as she then moved in to give Code 094's body a kiss. After she was done, she laid back beside him and said to all of them, "We will meet again. All of us." She then closed her eyes. At that moment, she peacefully passed away, laying beside the love of her life.

Kyouko and Yasuto turned around and began to walk away from the Franxx. Once they were around 15 feet away from it, they turned around and stood at attention, facing the battlefield and the Franxx's that laid strewn across it. "Stay strong," Yasuto told Kyouko. "Stay strong..."

The two then gave a salute in honor of their fallen comrades. As they stood, tears fell from their eyes. Finally, Kyouko could no longer take it, and broke her salute to hug Yasuto and cry into his chest, making him break his salute and hug her back. As she loudly weeped into her and soaked his uniform in her tears, she screamed, "WHY?! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE US?!"

"I don't know," Yasuto could only reply. "I don't know."

As they continued to cry, a transport unit flew down to them and landed nearby. Immediately, Doctor Franxx and several APE soldiers ran out to see if they were alright. Werner in particular was horrified by the scene around them. "Oh my God! This is awful!" He then ran up to the last two parasites. "Codes 085 and 099!"

"Doctor," Kyouko replied as she wiped away the tears from her face. "Everyone's dead except for us."

Werner looked down as the gravity of the situation hit him. "I see. Well, we have two backup parasites who will pilot Heliconia back to Plantation 29. You two deserve a rest after what happened today."

An APE soldier-medic went up to them and asked, "Code 085, do you or your partner have any injuries?" He then took his helmet off and pulled out a medical bag.

"No," Yasuto said. "Physically, we're fine. You can put the medical bag away. You won't need it here." He then walked towards the transport unit, with Kyouko holding his hand. He gave her a look that said to her 'we are to never speak of what happened between 094 and 133.' Kyouko nodded back. He thought to himself, _"No one must know of what we did or what Codes 094 and 133 did. APE would vilify us if they found out we had sex or if they found out Codes 094 and 133 had sex. The love our two pairs had can't be revealed."_

Kyouko thought to herself as she stepped into the transport unit, _"This is a day no one must ever forget. No one should forget Squad 9 and the sacrifices they made. Their code numbers must be stated and remembered."_ She said to Yasuto as she got a seat, "Yasuto, I have an idea."

"What is it?" Yasuto then sighed, tired out and still in shock over the day.

"We need to paint the names of our comrades on the side of Heliconia," she replied to him. "This incident can't be forgotten. I don't want Squad 9 left to the dustbin of history. I want people to know the code numbers of our comrades."

Yasuto paused. "I see... And... I agree." He then wrapped an arm around her. "This day cannot be forgotten."

 ** _PRESENT DAY_**

As Heliconia looked down at the mine where Delphinium, Argentea, and Genista has just descended to fight, Kyouko said to Yasuto through Stealth Mode, "Hey, Yasuto."

"Yeah," he replied back.

"Today is the 5th anniversary of when we became pilots," Kyouko said to him. "We should have some kind of celebration when we get back."

"Yeah," Yasuto replied to her, smiling as he looked back. "We've had some very rough times, but... I wouldn't trade it for anything. Those past 5 years have been the best in my life, especially with you as my partner and so much more."

Kyouko gave a short giggle. "Thanks, Green-Eyes." She referred to a nickname she had given him when they first met before they gave themselves their own names that referred to his bright green eyes that she had often caught herself gazing in back then. "These past 5 years have seen pain, triumph, success, and failure, and neither of us could have done it without each other."

"Agreed," Yasuto replied as he switched off Stealth Mode. "I wonder how those six are doing down there." He then opened up the music folder in the HUD of the cockpit and selected the album The Game by Queen, the first album they found of the group. Immediately, the playlist began with the song Play The Game, which began with a long synth intro before jumping into the main part of the song. "I love this album so much. This group in general was probably the best one of the various bands pre-Klaxosaur Earth had."

"No doubts there," Kyouko replied. "No doubts there at all."


	5. News Of The World: 5

As Heliconia lowered itself down to the base of the Level 8 mine, it overheard the other 3 Franxx Units talking amongst themselves over the radio. Yasuto radioed out to Delphinium, "Heliconia to Delphinium." By now, The Game was just finishing its 3rd song, Another One Bites The Dust, and was getting to the next one, Need Your Loving Tonight.

"Go ahead," Ichigo replied.

"I'll be standing by at the convergence of the tunnels in the center of the mine," Yasuto replied as he made Heliconia jump down to the floor of the mine. "What tunnel did you guys enter?"

"We entered Tunnel 3," Ichigo radioed back.

"10-4," Yasuto replied. He then said to Kyouko, "Looks like we'll be stuck here for be next hour or so."

"Yeah," Kyouko replied through Heliconia. "Say, what do you think was the cause of Ikuno and Mitsuru having connectivity issues?"

"That seems weird," Yasuto replied. "I mean, it's not uncommon for new parasites to have connectivity issues, don't get me wrong, but that was a bit extreme. I'm sure they'll work out the kinks soon, though."

"Yeah," Kyouko replied, confident in them. "There's nothing inherently defective about some connectivity issues early on."

Then, they were interrupted when Ichigo radioed our to dispatch, "Delphinium to Headquarters."

"Delphinium," a dispatcher replied.

"We have a 10-35 on the target," Ichigo replied. "All Franxx units moving into position and awaiting orders."

"10-4," the dame dispatcher replied. "Can you Jodi it with what you currently have, or do you want us to add more units?"

"Hold it with what we currently have," Ichigo replied. "We can take this by ourselves."

"10-4."

"Sounds like they found their target," Yasuto said to Kyouko. "This should be over pretty soon. A single Conrad-class shouldn't be too much trouble. It sucks we can't get in on the action now."

"Tell me about it," Yasuto groaned. "I hate doing RIT, especially when it's a big event. At least we aren't missing much for this fight. I bet they already have the thing dead by now."

Suddenly, they were interrupted when Ichigo gave a panicked transmission over the radio, "Delphinium to Headquarters, urgent!"

"Unit calling, go ahead with the urgent."

Ichigo then screamed, "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY! Transmit the 10-66 and get me a full first and second alarm! Get somebody to pilot Strelizia with Zero Two! Argentea is down and we have a large number of Conrad-class targets dropping from the ceiling!"

Yasuto looked over at Tunnel 3 and said to himself, "Fuck, that's not good." He then said to Kyouko, "We're going in!"

"Got it," she replied before she radioed, "Heliconia to Headquarters, we copy the 10-66, we are going into action as the Rapid Intervention Team to rescue Argentea!"

"10-4," a dispatcher replied. "Just to let you know, we are going to be sending out Squad 26 to your location, and Squad 37 to standby in their loading dock."

Heliconia immediately began running as fast as it could down Tunnel 3, determined to reach Squad 13 before things got worse. As it rushed to the scene, Kyouko thought to herself, _"If they won't let Hiro pilot Strelizia, who will they have go with her? The only other option I know of is Mitsuru, but I don't know if he can handle Strelizia."_

* * *

Eventually, they reached the three of them. Delphinium and Genista were trying to hold back the mass of Conrad-class Klaxosaurs behind the closed gate that led to where they had been attacked, but they were clearly having difficulty doing so. Genista looked over to them and Kokoro said, "Thank God! Heliconia is here!"

"We gotta deactivate for a few minutes to extract Miku and Zorome," Kyouko explained to them through Heliconia. "Once we pull them from the cockpit, we'll start back up and join you guys." She then turned off Heliconia's power systems as Yasuto put the mech in a standing position. Once Heliconia was powered down, Kyouko got up and opened a compartment in the cockpit of the mech. "Grab a gun. If they break through while we're still out, the best we can do is shoot at them." She then handed Yasuto a rifle.

"Let's hurry," Yasuto said as he opened the cockpit up for Heliconia. The two of them then waited as a platform springing from Heliconia lowered them down to the ground. Once they jumped down to the ground while the platform was about 5 feet off the ground, he radioed Delphinium, "Heliconia to Delphinium, we are on the ground, running over to Argentea now!"

By now, Argentea was laying on the ground, still out of action. It didn't take long for them to reach Argentea, but now they would have to figure out a way to climb up it. As they approached its head, Kyouko noticed a small set of ladder platforms that would allow one to climb up the head of the robot. "Over here!" She motioned for Yasuto to come over to her. "Climb up these!" She then slung the rifle over her shoulder and began climbing up before Yasuto did the same.

Futoshi radioed out from Genista, "You two better hurry the hell up!"

"We're trying," Kyouko replied. "We're almost to the cockpit!" Then, she and Yasuto reached the entrance to the cockpit. "I'm gonna blast the locks open. Stand back!"

"Hopefully this isn't as bad as 4 and a half years ago." Yasuto referred to what had happened when Squad 9 Mark I had been destroyed.

Then, Kyouko shot the central lock of the cockpit, causing it to open up. Inside was an unconscious Miku and a frightened Zorome. "What?! How did you guys get in here?!"

"I shot the lock off," the brunette replied as she extended her hand. "Now hurry the hell up and let's get out of here!"

"What about Miku?" He was clearly deeply concerned about his unconscious partner. "What will happen to her?!"

"We'll drag her out," Yasuto replied as Zorome nodded and took Kyouko's hand. Once he was out of the cockpit, Yasuto and Kyouko jumped in and flipped Miku around to look at her. "No external injuries. That's good." He then shook her to see if he could awaken her. "Hey! Miku! Code 390!"

"Huh?" Miku then looked around as she woke up. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out," Yasuto told her. "Do you feel any injuries anywhere?"

"No," she replied as she shook her head. "Me and Zorome can start back up." She then sat back down in her prone position for piloting. "Well, Zorome?"

"She looks fit to pilot," Kyouko said to Yasuto. "What do you think?"

"I agree," he replied. "Zorome, you're cleared to pilot again!"

"On it," he replied, eager to jump back into the action. "Let's get this show on the road again!"

As Argentea booted up once more, Yasuto and Kyouko quickly made their way back down to the ground to get back in Heliconia. As they ram to their Franxx, Yasuto radioed, "Heliconia to Headquarters, the 10-66 has been cleared, Argentea is back in operation."

"10-4," a dispatcher replied. "Headquarters to Delphinium."

"Go ahead," Ichigo quickly replied as Delphinium held back the door.

"Strelizia will be meeting up with your squad soon to assist. Do you want me to stand down the first and second alarms?"

"Stand them down, but keep Strelizia going!" Ichigo, in her panic, had almost forgotten about Strelizia being deployed, and was now suddenly worried who was piloting with Zero Two. She said to herself, "Wait... Who's piloting Strelizia?!" In her mind, she immediately assumed Hiro had done it once more, which made her suddenly lose focus.

Goro, up in his seat, suddenly felt Delphinium lose control. "What?! Why are the control so heavy all of a sudden?! Ichigo!" As he tried to wrestle with the controls, Delphinium took a knee and then fell to the ground, Ichigo's synchronization levels going down for no apparent reason.

Heliconia, which had just booted up once more, walked to Delphiniumto see what had happened. "Ichigo," Kyouko said through Heliconia. "Are you alright?"

"Uhh," Yasuto said as he looked at the now-buckling gate. "We got bigger things to worry about!" As everyone turned to the gate, it suddenly burst open with numerous Conrads flowing towards them. "FUCKING RUN!"

Delphinium quickly got back on its feet and sprinted towards the center of the mine as the rest of Squad 13 followed suit. As they all ran, Ichigo said to Kyouko, "I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry about that."

"We'll deal with it later," Kyouko assured her as they all kept up a brisk pace. "For now, we need to focus on not dying!" She then turned to Yasuto and said, "What song are we on now in The Game?"

"The last one," he replied. "Save Me."

"How ironic! Someone really needs to save us, and that someone is Strelizia!"

The four of them finally were able to make their way to the center of the mine. However, before they could advance any further, Genista stopped dead in its tracks, causing Argentea to rear-end it, setting off a loud clanging sound that emanated through the mine. "Hey! What the hell gives?!"

"Uhhh," Kokoro said to the squad. "Guys... We're kinda surrounded."

The jaws of both Yasuto and Kyouko dropped as they saw the horrid sight around them. All around them were hundreds of Conrads coming from all sides of the mine, and they were blocking the only way out.

Futoshi stammered out, "We... We can't take on this many! We- we- we're doomed!"

Miku then interrupted him when Argentea turned to another tunnel. "Hey, uh, Leader... What are we gonna do about that?!" Argentea pointed to a massive Klaxosaur blob that was crawling out of a mine tunnel at a rapid pace towards them.

Heliconia aimed both of its arms at the large Klaxosaur and fired off all 20 of its missiles into it in an attempt to slow it down. Yasuto radioed, "We'll take care of the large one until Strelizia comes here!" As all 20 missiles hit it, the Klaxosaur roared loudly in pain and began to retreat slightly. "I'm gonna get it into position for Strelizia to strike it!"

Kyouko then looked up to the top of the mine. "Here comes Strelizia!" The whole squad looked up and began to breathe a sigh of relief as the aforementioned Franxx came barreling down towards the bottom of the mine. Heliconia then turned away from the large Klaxosaur and used its harpoon to stab a Conrad that got just a bit too close to them. "Eat lead!" The sound of hundreds of shotgun shells simultaneously going off inside the Conrad emanated through the mine as the small Klaxosaur exploded.

Strelizia quickly righted itself and delivered a fatal blow to the Klaxosaur blob, causing it to explode and coat the entire center of the mine in blue blood, including the rest of Squad 13. As the steam from the explosion cleared, Ichigo asked, "Strelizia, who's piloting with you?!"

"I am," Mitsuru's voice suddenly crackled through on the radio. "And it feels fucking amazing! Everyone, get back! Me and Zero Two got this all under control!"

"Are you sure?" Ichigo was relieved that Hiro was not piloting with Zero Two.

"That's an order," Hachi then announced on the radio. "Headquarters to all of Squad 13, you can go 10-8, 10-15 Strelizia, and 10-13 Heliconia."

"Squad 13, 10-4," Ichigo radioed back. "Everyone, let's get out of here."

As Heliconia killed another Conrad, Kyouko whined, "Ugh, we gotta go?"

"I'm afraid so," Yasuto replied as he chuckled. "I'm sure Strelizia can take care of this with ease."

"Of course," Mitsuru radioed to them as Strelizia went to town on the various Conrads around it. "I'm doing better than Hiro already!"

"Hey," Zero Two interjected. "Don't push it, kid. Just be glad I'm letting you ride instead of my darling, alright?"

"Fine," Mitsuru replied. By now, sweat was running down his face like bullets, but he did not care. "I can do anything! This feels amazing!"

Zero Two then radioed, "Strelizia to Headquarters."

Nana replied instead of a regular dispatcher. "This is Nana, go ahead."

"Requesting permission to fight after Squad 13 us evacuated," Zero Two replied, expecting them to say no but prepared to do so anyways.

"Negative," Nana almost immediately radioed back. "You are to go 10-8 as soon as the rest of Squad 13 has been evacuated!" She was worried about Mitsuru's condition.

"I see," Zero Two replied. "How troublesome." She then turned off her radio.

"Damn it," Nana said to herself as she turned to Ikuno. "I'm sorry about all that. Zero Two has a tendency to turn off her radio whenever she gets an order she doesn't like."

Ikuno looked down. "I see. She's pretty rebellious, I assume?"

Nana laughed. "Rebellious is an understatement, Ikuno! I shouldn't be laughing about that, but I am." She then sighed. "We need to get her before she really fucks something up again." She quickly realized that she had swore in front of a parasite and quickly corrected herself. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

* * *

Outside, the rest of Squad 13 watched the top of the mine outside of their Franxx units as they anticipated Strelizia's return. As Miku and Zorome made up, Goro and Ichigo talked to each other about the latter's incident in the mine. "What got into you back there?"

"I apologize about that," the bluenette confessed. "I guess I got careless when I heard help was coming." She then thought to herself, _"God damn it, Ichigo! Get your act together!"_

Then, as Strelizia was lifted to the top by the mine elevator, Nana, Hachi, Hiro, and Ikuno arrived in a utility truck. As they got out, Zero Two walked out of Strelizia's cockpit and waved to them all with a smile on her face. Hiro waved in return before something hit him. "Wait... Where's Mitsuru?"

Yasuto yelled up to Zero Two, "HEY! ZERO TWO, WHERE'S MITSURU?!"

She yelled down, "OVER HERE!" She then pointed to the inside of the cockpit. "YOU GUYS ARE MEDICS, RIGHT?! COME UP HERE!"

Kyouko said to herself, "Oh shit, don't tell me..." Both she and Yasuto immediately feared the worst, that Mitsuru's ride with Strelizia had been his last as well as his first.


	6. Back in Black: 6

"Did he not eat again?" Kyouko walked into a small infirmary at Mistilteinn with a clipboard as Futoshi carried out a small tray of food. Inside was a curtained-off bed with a small placard reading "CODE 326-GOES BY "MITSURU", STATUS: PHYSICALLY STABLE, MENTALLY UNSTABLE, RECOMMENDED ACTION: OBSERVATION, ONLY INTERVENE IF LIFE-THREATENING CONDITION OCCURS." The whole of Squad 13 watched her and Futoshi.

"Nope," Futoshi replied, worried greatly about him. "He hasn't touched it at all. Maybe I should eat it so it doesn't go to waste."

"He's been like this ever since we came back," Zorome noted. Ever since Mitsuru woke up after being knocked unconscious, he had suffered what seemed to be a clear-cut case of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet no one knew exactly why. At least, nobody who did know was telling why.

Hiro, determined to find out for himself, marched into the infirmary and walked to his curtained-off bed. "Hey, Mitsuru... What exactly happened with Zero Two?" Kyouko looked on.

"What happened?" Mitsuru could barely stammer out his words. "I'll tell you what, Hiro. That bitch tried to devour me. My flesh, my blood, all of it. At first, it felt amazing to ride with her. Then, she went all out and tried to kill me!"

"Mitsu-" Hiro was suddenly interrupted as the injured stamen grabbed him by the shirt.

"The worst part was that damn smile! She smiled at me the whole God damn time! Hiro, you're fucking insane if you think you're the exception. If you ride with her again, you'll end up just like me! Nobody is safe from that monster!" He then tried to pull Hiro in, but Kyouko and Futoshi held him back before he could do anything.

Futoshi called out, "Mitsuru, stop!"

"Restrain him and lay him down on the bed," the brunette instructed him. "He needs to rest." She then turned to Hiro as Ichigo walked in. "You alright?"

"Yeah," he replied. As Ichigo looked on, she wondered how long it would take Mitsuru to recover.

* * *

Zero Two, Yasuto, Kyouko, Nana, and Hachi were all on an elevator down from Mistilteinn so the former could take an aptitude test. Yasuto and Kyouko were also going as parasite observers. On the way down, Hachi explained to Zero Two, "I understand that it's your mission to kill klaxosaurs, but that does not mean intentionally always going all out like that."

"They were Conrad-class," Nana reminded her. "You did not need to use that much power against one of them, but because you did, we nearly lost a parasite." She wondered if the pink-haired girl was even listening to her. "Hey, are you even listening to us?"

"Not really," Zero Two confirmed with them. "To be honest, aside from those other two parasites you dragged from their old squad, this one is suffocating me."

"Suffocating?" Kyouko, who had tolerated Zero Two for the longest time since she was the quietest of the Nines, had begun to have her patience worn thin.

"As long as I'm with my Darling," Zero Two continued. "Whom you all refer to as Hiro, I don't really give a fuck. I mean, let's be honest. The rest of Squad 13 will die soon anyway."

"Zero Two," Yasuto firmly said to her. "You may have been a special forces parasite and have more experience than they do, but me and my partner have more experience in the field than you and Squad 13 combined, and as such, when Code 015 is not around, me and Kyouko rank higher than you, and it's because of that that I need to remind you that Squad 13 may be brand new aside from us, but they are still our brother and sister pilots."

"Brother and sister pilots," Zero Two replied condescendingly. "Really? Those inexperienced fools can't fight their way out of a tin can."

"They're an irregular and brand new squad, yes," Hachi added. "But believe us when we say that all of them were chosen for their high aptitude, much like Codes 085 and 099 when they graduated from the Garden a year earlier than normal."

"Sure," the defiant parasite replied sarcastically. "Of course."

"All of us were in their shoes when we started," Kyouko reminded her. "Even you, Zero Two. Even though you may have been special due to your origins as well as your natural talent, you still had your moments when you first started where you made mistakes. You can't judge a brand new incarnation of a squad by the merits of a long-experienced one." She was especially teed off about Zero Two's insulting comment about Squad 13's freshness.

"Hold the hell up," Zero Two interrupted. "What was that part about my origins? Are you trying to put me down for not being human?"

"Absolutely not," the brunette affirmed. "The fact that you possess klaxosaur DNA has no bearing on my views towards you at all, and anybody who judges you for such is wrong. With that said, there is no denying it did give you a slight leg up in training, though I'm sure that you would still have been very skilled in your craft even without the DNA."

"You're sure as hell right about that last part," Zero Two replied as she shot Nana and Hachi death glares, thinking they told Yasuto and Kyouko about her past.

"Anyways, it is highly unlikely they'll let you pilot Strelitzia with Code 016." Hachi then showed Zero Two a folder. "I'm holding in my hand formal orders for you to be deployed back to the front."

"To the front, huh?" Zero Two sighed. "Orders are orders."

"Please don't pull any funny business," Nana demanded of her. "We don't need a repeat of last time."

"Sure thing," Zero Two replied, giving her a half-hearted thumbs-up. _"Like hell,"_ she thought.

Yasuto whispered to Kyouko quietly, "She's gonna pull something, isn't she?" His partner nodded in agreement.

* * *

After being notified of a reported sighting, Squad 13 rapidly began to roll out. Yasuto and Kyouko ran into their locker rooms first, with both quickly undressing. As Yasuto got undressed, Futoshi and Goro ran in, followed by Zorome. Then, after about three minutes, Yasuto ran out of the locker room in his suit. Kyouko likewise ran out after three minutes as well. The two were known for getting undressed and dressed rather rapidly when a sighting occurred.

About 10 minutes later, as they hooked into Heliconia, Kyouko said to her partner, "I heard Mitsuru and Ikuno are making their way down here."

"I wouldn't do that in Mitsuru's shoes," he replied to her as he strapped in. "He should rest for another week before riding with her. But, I guess I can't make those decisions, huh? How stubborn.

"Nope," the brunette replied, also rather wary of Mitsuru stepping foot anywhere near a Franxx for now after what happened with Zero Two. "I'm ready to go live."

"Got it," Mitsuru replied as he grabbed the handles. He then radioed, "Heliconia to Base."

"Heliconia," a base dispatcher replied.

"We will be responding to the 10-23," he said back as the connection stabilized. "Do we have any updates on the 10-10 of the 10-23?"

"Negative. All the reports are still saying the same area as the initial dispatch."

"10-4."

"Delphinium to Base," Ichigo then radioed just as she jumped into her Franxx with Goro using a built-in radio attached to her suit.

"Delphinium."

"We are not yet en route. How many reports are you getting on this?"

"6 calls at this time. Do you want a 10-75?"

Ichigo thought to herself for about 5 seconds before she looked at Goro. "Hey, Goro, make it a 10-75?"

"You got 6 calls on this," Goro replied, stating the facts for her. "You make the call."

"Delphinium to Base, transmit the 10-75 and get me two units from Squad 26. Have them acknowledge and respond on my frequency." Ichigo was confident there would be something waiting for all of them when they got to the location of the reported sighting. _"This is the true first test. This will be our first attack call."_

About 7 minutes later, Heliconia arrived first to a Worm-type Klaxosaur, one of a family of worm-like classes. This Worm-type was rather large and stretched for a distance. As they arrived, Yasuto radioed out, "Heliconia to Base, I'm gonna give a 10-12."

"10-4, go ahead."

"I have a large Worm-type, believed to be a Inge-class. It's moving pretty rapidly towards Cerasus. Approximate ETA of contact with the plantation if not stopped is 15 minutes." Yasuto then said to Kyouko, "Ready to take it on?"

"On it," she replied. She then triggered the firing of all of Heliconia's 20 missiles on its forearms, which all hit the Worm-type and slowed it down as it roared in pain. As the explosions caused Heliconia to vibrate, Kyouko then said, "The rest of the squad should be coming up soon!"

"We're right here," Ichigo then radioed over a talkaround frequency as Delphinium suddenly approached from the rear and rammed into the Worm-type with its two swords, forcing it back as Genista stabbed it and then fired into it with its bayonet-cannon. This was enough to split the Worm-type open and reveal its core, soaking the entirety of Squad 13 in its blue blood. "Argentea, take the core!"

"On it," Miku replied as Argentea hopped into the air and came down onto the core of the Worm-type with its claws. Once the core was penetrated, Argentea ripped it apart at the seams, killing the Klaxosaur for good. "See? Wasn't too hard at all!"

"Right about that," Zorome replied. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around in his cockpit.

Suddenly, Heliconia looked behind Argentea and seemed to notice something. Kyouko screamed, "Miku, Zorome, look out!"

"Huh?" Miku was confused as Argentea turned around, only to immediately see why Kyouko panicked. A giant Klaxosaur suddenly grabbed Argentea in its clutches, startling the whole team. "Agh! Help!"

"Argentea," Yasuto yelled out to her. "Call the mayday!"

Zorome radioed out, "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!"

As Zorome and a dispatcher at Cerasus Base exchanged information, Heliconia raced towards the Klaxosaur, dodging several projectiles it fired from its Worm-type body. Unlike the last Worm-type, this one had giant claws for a mouth instead of drills. Heliconia, having expended all of its missiles, would have to use its melee weapon instead. As it implanted its harpoon into the Klaxosaur, Kyouko yelled, "Eat lead!" Then, hundreds of shotgun shells were fired from the perforated harpoon's holes, ripping apart the Klaxosaur near its head and almost decapitating it. This allowed for Argentea to be freed from its clutches.

However, just as Heliconia and Argentea began to make quick work of this second Klaxosaur, yet another one suddenly shot up from the ground below Delphinium, Genista, and Chlorophytum, throwing them all into the air. Yasuto said to himself, "Shit! This is getting worse and worse!"

* * *

Back in the briefing room, Zero Two watched the proceedings outside with a smug look on her face as Hiro looked on in horror. "This wouldn't be happening if Strelitzia was out there." Both had their piloting suits on.

"Absolutely not," Nana harshly reminded her. "You are not going out there."

"Say," she then asked her. "What was on that transport ship that just landed?" She thought to herself, _"I know the answer already."_

"Transport ship?" Hiro immediately feared the worst. "Is it for you, Zero Two?"

Suddenly, the door to the briefing room was busted open by a team of 8 heavily-armed guards as they surrounded Zero Two. The leader of the team called out, "Because of past incidents, you'll have to come with us this way!"

"They are your escort," Nana told Zero Two. "I told you, you were going back to the front."

Zero Two coldly greeted her escort with, "What's up, dickheads?" She clearly was not entirely willing to go, wanting to spend more time with Hiro.

"It's easier to leave while the Klaxosaur is preoccupied," said a guard as he made the mistake of putting a hand on Zero Two's shoulder. Almost immediately as he did, Zero Two lashed out by throwing him across the room into a wall. As the guard screamed, the rest of his team aimed their guns at Zero Two.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Zero Two was dead-serious in her statement as she gave the team a death glare. She then calmed down as she looked at Hiro. "I suppose I owe you a goodbye."

Hiro, still confused out of his mind, asked, "What the hell is going on, Zero Two?"

"I guess our time is up, Darling." She then moved in closer to Hiro, the laser sights of the guards trained at her every step. "I wish it wasn't. To be honest, I really wanted to be with you. I hoped things could work out. But... I guess things just didn't." She then gave Hiro a slight bump on his forehead with her red horns, startling him. "Oh, sorry about that."

"It's fine," he replied as he rubbed his forehead. "But... Why?"

"Goodbye, Darling," Zero Two answered back, not giving an explanation.

"Alright, that's enough," a guard commanded her. "Move it." The team and Zero Two then began to leave the briefing room, giving Hiro many more questions than answers as they did.

"What was that all about?" Hiro hoped that Nana could give her an answer.

"Hiro," Nana explained to him. "Zero Two is a specialized pistil. She is not like anyone in your squad, not even Yasuto and Kyouko. She got redeployed per the direct orders of Papa himself. Someone like her needs to be on the front lines."

"I see," Hiro replied, some of his questions answered. "Is it true that she's a partner-killer?"

"The truth is far more complicated than that," Nana began. "Because of her DNA, she can do amazing things in the battlefield. However, it's also because of her DNA that her abilities exact a huge toll on her stamens. It is true that she has had all of her stamens before you die in the line of duty. However, it is unlikely this is her intentional doing. As for not being like you, well... She is not fully human, hence her horns."

"I see," Hiro replied as he thought to himself, _"She may have horns, but... She acts just like us... She eats, breathes, speaks, feels, everything... She IS just like us!"_ "Nana, I'm sorry." He then made a full sprint for the door, determined to find Zero Two once more.

Nana, surprised, turned and shouted, "What are you doing?! Hiro!" He, however, paid no attention to her as he bolted down the hallway.


	7. Jailbreak: 7

As the rest of Squad 13 tried to wrestle with a worm Klaxosaur, Heliconia held off several smaller ones by itself, determined to provide a distraction. As it dug its perforated harpoon into a Klaxosaur and killed it with a blast of shotgun shells, it coated itself with another fresh layer of blue blood. Yasuto said to Kyouko through Stealth Mode, "I'm considering asking for Strelitzia to get over here, but I know they'll just say no."

"Fucking ridiculous," Kyouko replied to him as Heliconia jumped up and impaled another Klaxosaur. "What's the damn hold-up?! They ran medical checkups on Hiro, and he came out fine! He isn't like the other stamens!" Then, through Heliconia's vision, she noticed something from afar and turned as she turned off Stealth Mode. "Huh? What's that?!"

It appeared as if a giant cloud of dust was racing towards them. Suddenly, they could hear the sound of engines as well, indicating it was some kind of vehicle. As Heliconia moved out of the way, Ichigo said through Delphinium as she held onto the worm Klaxosaur, "Is that...? No way!"

Suddenly, to the absolute shock of everybody, Strelitzia charged through and slashed across the worm that Squad 13 was stuck on. As the Klaxosaur fell to the ground, Squad 13 got up and brushed themselves off. As they did, a smaller worm that they had tried to deal with earlier charged at the newcomer, forcing Hiro to take evasive action and hold it back as it fired projectiles at Strelitzia. Hiro shouted to his comrades, "I got this one, guys! I'm part of the team, too!"

Ichigo looked on and nodded. "Right. Guys, Hiro's got this. Let's focus on the larger worm. Heliconia, once you're done with the smaller ones, help Strelitzia out!"

Kyouko radioed back, "On it!" She then turned to Strelitzia as it deflected numerous projectiles. "Zero Two, the core is not in the head of this one! I think it may be underground with the rest of its body!"

"Understood," Hiro replied as Strelitzia fired its harpoon into the head of the Klaxosaur and dragged it in. Upon doing so, it jumped up and stabbed the head with the same harpoon. "Zero Two, hold on tight!"

"Of course, Darling," she replied as Strelitzia was dragged underground by the Klaxosaur. As Heliconia watched, a thought crossed Yasuto's mind.

* * *

 ** _4 Years and 9 Months Earlier_**

"I remember the Garden well," Code 099 said to Code 085 as the two young pilots stared into a holding room for the pilots-in-training. "We were so little then." Their squad had visited the Garden once more to receive some advanced training.

"I mean" he replied. "It has only been 3 months since we graduated a year early." He then noticed that one of the younger male parasites had been passing around notes with letters on them. "Hey, what's that one doing over there?"

As the two looked on, the boy noticed them and ran up to the glass wall separating them. He was talking, but his voice was muffled. "Hey, what are your codenames?"

Code 085 had an idea immediately. "I got it." He then pulled out a notepad and a pen and wrote down their code numbers. "CODE 085, CODE 099." They both had arrows pointing to each other to differentiate.

"I'm Code 016," the young boy replied as a girl with short blue hair also walked up, wondering what was happening. "This is my friend, Code 015. I'm giving our friends names based on their codes! I'm Hiro, and she's Ichigo." He then turned to her and asked, "It was Ichigo, right?"

"Yeah," she replied as she nodded.

Code 099 said to her partner, "Names? That's odd..."

Code 085 then chuckled as he came up with an idea. He wrote down on the paper, "WHAT WOULD YOU NAME US?"

Hiro thought to himself as he came up with names. He said to Ichigo, "We may have to use other words for numbers. Remember those older words we were taught that also were numbers?"

"Oh yeah," Ichigo replied as she remembered. "You could use those!"

"Give me a second," Hiro replied to Codes 085 and 099. After about a minute of thinking and writing, he came back up to both of them with his results. "Code 085, I came up with Yasuto, and Code 099, I came up with Kyouko!"

Kyouko said to her partner, "They sound like nice names. I'm impressed."

Yasuto wrote on the paper, "THANK YOU, HIRO." He thought to himself, _"They're all so innocent, yet they also show more maturity than some of the actual adults or even some pilots, especially Code 01-... No... Especially Hiro."_

* * *

 _ **PRESENT DAY**_

Strelitzia suddenly emerged from the ground, pulling with it the head of the Klaxosaur as it then flung it upwards, ripping the rest of it out of the ground. As the long worm Klaxosaur flew up into the air, it became clear that what was originally thought to have been two worms had in fact been one long worm.

As Heliconia killed the last small Klaxosaur, it looked on. Kyouko said, "I should have recognized that! I had a feeling it was just one long Klaxosaur!"

"If it's that long," Futoshi said to the gang as Heliconia ran up to Genista, Delphinium, Chlorophytum, and Argentea. "It'll be hell trying to find that core!"

"Pin it down," Ichigo ordered as Delphinium jumped up into the air and began walking up the Klaxosaur to find a good spot to pin it. Then, when it found the spot, Ichigo called out, "RIGHT HERE!"

"On it," Goro quickly replied as Delphinium rammed both of its spears into the Klaxosaur, pinning it to the ground as Genista rammed into it from the side and Argentea dug into it with its claws. Finally, Chlorophytum jumped up as Ikuno let out a roar and then jammed both of its legs into the Franxx, mostly immobilizing it. To keep the end they were on immobile, Heliconia used its harpoon to prop the mouth open and also dig into the "lip," causing blood to gush out. It also used its free arm and legs to support the harpoon as it fired off the last round of shotgun shells, severely damaging but not killing their end of the Klaxosaur.

"Strelitzia," Kyouko radioed. "I got an idea! Come over to where we are on the other side and ram through the full length of the Klaxosaue. You're bound to hit the core eventually! I got the mouth on this end opened up for you!"

Hiro said to Zero Two within the cockpit, "Sounds like a plan, right?"

"Of course," she replied.

Strelitzia then flew from her end of the Klaxosaur to the other end. As it readied itself, Heliconia prepared to move out of the way just in time so that the mouth would not close on itself before Strelitzia came barreling through. Yasuto radioed, "On my cue, ram into it." He then began the countdown. "Three, two, one... NOW! EVERYONE, LOOK OUT!"

Just as Strelitzia approached them, Heliconia freed itself and followed Strelitzia in as the rest of the team dislodged themselves from the Klaxosaur. As the two barreled through the Klaxosaur, coating themselves in blue blood, Heliconia could see a bright yellow light from where it was behind Strelitzia. Kyouko called out, "There it is! The core! Keep going!"

"I see it," Zero Two yelled out as Strelitzita used its lance to impale the core. Within seconds afterwards, both emerged at the other end, the Klaxosaur eviscerated completely as it more or less exploded into a shower of its blood.

As the rest of the team watched in shock, Hiro took a moment to catch his breath in the cockpit of Strelitzia. Heliconia walked up to Strelitzia and extended its hand out for a handshake. Yasuto said to Hiro and Zero Two, "You guys rocked it. Welcome to Squad 13."

Zero Two, unsure of how to proceed at first, shrugged and then decided to accept. Strelitzia shook Heliconia's free hand as she said to him, "Perhaps these guys aren't so bad after all."

Kyouko used Stealth Mode to yell Yasuto, "I knew we were right about those two."

Yasuto replied in kind, "Yeah. They can't split Hiro and Zero Two up now."

Hiro then said to both of them as he caught his breath still, "That felt amazing... I've finally realized my dream!"

* * *

Back at the mansion, Kyouko, Yasuto, Hiro, and Zero Two talked alone at the dinner table, long after the others had left to do other activities. "I can't believe we pulled it off, but we did." Kyouko then raised her glass. "To success!"

The other three also raised their glasses. "To success!"

"Say," Zero Two then asked her. "Where did you get your hands on wine? Only parasites aged 15 or higher can have it, and since Squad 13 isn't yet there aside from me and you two, we can't officially get any."

"When you've piloted as long as us," Yasuto replied. "And you have the knowledge we do, you can have some serious strings pulled." He then sipped his glass. "I haven't had any since a week before we got booted from Squad 15." He then turned to Hiro. "So, how's your first hard drink?"

"It tastes a bit odd," he noted. "But I like it." He then turned to Zero Two. "Have you had this before, Zero Two?"

"Of course," she replied as she looked at his eyes. "Let me tell you, it can really ease your tensions." She then moved in closer to a now-blushing Hiro. "And it can make you more at ease, Darling."

Kyouko chuckled and said to Zero Two, "Now, hold on a minute. Let's not get carried away here, alright?" She then whispered to Yasuto, "Hey, when we're done, wanna go outside for some fun? Wine wasn't the only thing I brought." Her partner smiled and nodded in response.

Zero Two noticed them whispering and asked them, "Hey, are you two whispering secrets? What's up?"

"Nothing," Yasuto assured her. "It's fine."

Hiro, confused, asked them, "Secrets? What secrets?"

"Every pair has secrets that they don't tell other pairs," Kyouko explained to him. "I'm sure that in time, you'll have secrets that you'll tell no one else but Zero Two, and the same will apply the other way around. There's nothing wrong with it at all." She then finished her wine glass before she pulled her phone out. "Wanna hear some of the music we've found over the years?"

"Oh yeah," Zero Two noted as she remembered some stories about the pair. "It's been said that you two collect music from ancient runs and convert them to run on modern electronics, right?"

"Indeed," Yasuto replied. "We were thinking that a listen-through of the album Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy was in order. Now, Hiro, if you don't know what an album is, it's a collection of songs, usually about 35 to 50 minutes in length."

"Ah," Hiro replied. "Who was Thin Lizzy?" He did not know much about music or song, as did most parasites.

"They were a band of musicians formed over a hundred years ago," Kyouko told him. "They were from a pre-Klaxosaur nation called Ireland, and made many songs. This album was their most well-known, and for good reason." She then pressed play. "Just listen and you'll see why."


	8. Don't Look Back: 8

In a classroom within the mansion, Kyouko and Yasuto were tasked with teaching Squad 13, including Zero Two, about the impending kissing of Plantations 13 and 26, also known as Cerasus and Chrysanthemum. Normally, Nana and Hachi would teach them, but due to some prior commitments, the two oldest parasites in the squad would cover for them, given their experience.

As the rest of the squad sat down, Zorome asked Yasuto, "Are you guys gonna be strict or something?"

"What do you mean?" Kyouko seemed perplexed by the question. "It's not like you guys haven't gone over some of the basics before." She then began writing some notes down on a whiteboard behind her. When she finished, she turned around. "Okay, so, to go over it again, Plantation Kissing is a name used to refer to when two or more plantations meet and begin exchanging goods and services, including magma energy. During the period of Kissing, both plantations cannot move, and may be more vulnerable to attack by Klaxosaurs. Additionally, the transfer of magma energy may or may not attract more."

Then, Hiro raised his hand. Yasuto replied to him, "Yes, Hiro?"

"I wonder," he asked. "Why do they call it that? Zero Two said kissing was something two people did with their mouths. Do the adults kiss too?"

Kyouko paused as she tried to come up with an answer that would not attract the wrong kind of attention from APE. _"Fucking hell... How do I explain that to the class...?"_ "You see... Well, yes, Zero Two was right in that regard. I guess you can say that they co-opted the word "kissing" for this process, since Plantations are much like a human body, and the entry and exit ports can be considered the "mouths" of this body."

"As for the second question," Yasuto began to explain. "The truth is complicated. Kissing was an ancient practice, from before the times of Klaxosaurs and magma energy and the like, and it mostly died out as humanity continued to evolve. Perhaps Zero Two heard about it somewhere and it piqued her interest. I doubt any adults still do such a thing, though I truthfully do not know if none do it at all or not." In his head, he thought to himself, _"I still cringe having to say all that shit. APE has co-opted so much that the words they've used have become seemingly irrecoverably corrupted."_

Kokoro then raised her hand. "I have another question."

"Sure thing," he replied. "Shoot it."

"Should we be worried at all about the increased risks?"

"I would not be," Kyouko answered her. "During a Plantation Kiss, the squads of all plantations involved are on an automatic mutual aid plan, and will respond together to all attacks, increasing the level of response to appropriate levels. Additionally, with Strelitzia's inclusion into Squad 13 for the time being, we have gained not two, but now three highly experienced pilots."

Hiro then added, "Right. Zero Two will give us the edge our squad needs to succeed. I'm sure of it."

Kyouko could notice that Ichigo was staring off into a blank stretch of wall, thinking about something. She knew instantly what it was. _"Love can be a dangerous thing. I just hope that she doesn't let it influence her decision-making as a squad leader. The last thing Squad 13 Mark III needs is Zero Two being taken away."_

* * *

After the Plantation Kissing Ceremony ended, Yasuto and Kyouko decided to go up to Squad 26 and chat with them. Their leader, Code 090, had in fact been the same age group as they had been, but had graduated a year later at the normal age of 14. As Yasuto met up with him, he introduced himself and extended his hand out with, "Code 090, I believe we haven't seen each other in a while."

The brown-haired leader, in complete surprise, replied with, "No way! Codes 085 and 099!" He then hugged Yasuto and then Kyouko and patted both on the back before turning and introducing his squad to them. "Squad 26, these two pilots are Codes 085 and 099. They were in the Garden with me, but graduated a year early due to their increased aptitude. They pilot Heliconia, a modified Standard Model Franxx Unit, and have been part of Squad 9 Mark II, Squad 15 Mark I, and now Squad 13 Mark III. These two have been through a lot of battles, and have countless hours of experience under their belts, not to mention a vast knowledge of medicine and computers."

As the two of them shook hands with the rest of Squad 26, Code 090 looked over at the rest of Squad 13 and thought to himself, " _It's odd they'd pair these two up with a brand new experimental squad like those guys, but I guess it seems to be working good so far."_

* * *

"I find it odd that Squad 13 has individualized Franxx units," Code 090 said to Squad 13 minus Ichigo, Hiro, Mitsuru, and Zero Two as the two squads toured the loading garage of Cerasus. "I get why Heliconia has one, but you guys are all brand new. We have standardized models, like Heliconia was before it was severely damaged and modified."

Ikuno, confused, asked Yasuto, "Is that true?"

"Indeed," he explained to the squad. "Most squads have standardized models. Since Squad 13 is an experimental unit, they decided to put individualized ones. The reason being is because Dr. Franxx wants to test his hypothesis that individualized Franxx units have better synchronization rates." He then turned to Code 090. "So far, it seems as if Dr. Franxx's hypothesis is being proven right. If this goes any further, your Franxx may or may not be upgraded."

"Interesting," the leader replied. "I must say, I can see why he would think that. Since, aside from Codes 085 and 099, you guys are new, don't be afraid to ask us for any help. I'm glad you got paired with us for your first Kissing."

"I got one," Zorome excitedly shouted as he raised his hand. "So, my question is this! Have any children from your squad gone on to become adults?"

Immediately, Kyouko shot Code 090 a look of worry and nodded. Another parasite from Squad 26 whispered to him, "I don't think he knows."

"Well," Code 090 replied. "Not here. Now, that doesn't mean it's never happened, but I've never experienced it. Sorry."

"What gives?" Zorome was downtrodden by the answer he was given. "That's a bummer for sure."

"You seem to really care, Zorome," Futoshi replied to him.

"Because I'm not a simpleton like you, Futoshi!"

"Say," Code 090 asked Goro. "Your nicknames... Code 016 came up with them, right?"

"Yeah," Goro replied as he nodded, startled by the question. "We've heard that he's well-known by other parasites for it."

"He's more than well-known," he added. "He's a legend amongst us children. As you can see, he's even inspired others to take nicknames, like Codes 085 and 099 here. In my opinion, it is peculiar. Hell, your whole squad is. Nicknames, individualized Franxx, such unique pilots and personalities, it really is unusual." He then smiled. "Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing, however. In fact, it may very well prove to be the future. If what you're doing right now proves to be the most effective way of dealing with Klaxosaurs, perhaps we all will learn from you."

Goro thought to himself, _"There's more to this than we ever could have thought of."_ He then looked over to Delphinium and took Code 090's words to heart. _"Perhaps Squad 13 really is the future."_

* * *

Goro and Yasuto walked back together to the boys' dorm, talking about the day and what Code 090 had said. As Yasuto opened the door, he said, "You know, Code 090 may seem intimidating, but he really is a nice guy when you get to-"

Suddenly, they both paused as they looked at Hiro, who was withering on the floor in severe pain. Goro shouted, "HIRO!"

Yasuto ran past him and grabbed his medical jump bag near his bed as Goro ran to Hiro. Yasuto told him, "Hiro, stay put and do NOT move!" He then opened his bag up and knelt down to look over the downed parasite as Goro turned him over.

"It's nothing," he weakly said to both of them.

"My ass," Goro replied as he zippered down his shirt and was horrified to see a blue mass on Hiro's chest. "What?! Was this the thing bothering you?"

"Wait," Yasuto asked as he paused. "Goro, you knew about this?!"

"Hiro told me to keep it a secret," the blond replied. "But I can't anymore."

"You need to," Hiro replied to him weakly.

"Hiro," Yasuto said as he began to go through a field medic checklist. "We will not go any further with this if you tell me the truth, okay? How long has the mass been there?" He then began checking things with a pen on the checklist.

"Since the second time I piloted," Hiro replied, causing Yasuto to write the info down.

"Are you mad?" Goro was angry at Yasuto's suggestion. "We can't keep this a secret!"

"Yes, we can," he firmly told him. "Patient privacy laws give any and all parasites the right to refuse medical information disclosure to any non-medical or non-security personnel. If he doesn't want to tell anyone else, and I determine his life is not in immediate danger, he has every right to keep it a secret."

Goro shut himself up and bit his tongue to prevent himself from giving the older parasite a harsh reply, and had to sit and watch as Yasuto treated him.

After about 15 minutes of assessment, Yasuto wrapped up the checklist. "Okay, from my assessment, it appears that the blue mass causes dehydration and not much else." He then zippered up Hiro's shirt. "As long as you drink extra water, you should be fine for now. However, if more effects start to appear, I'm afraid I will have to report it, Hiro."

"I understand your concerns," Hiro replied before he drank a glass of cold ice water. After he downed it, he turned to Goro. "See? It's fine."

"It just doesn't sit right with me," he replied, still uncomfortable with the idea of Hiro piloting with Zero Two due to the blue mass. "I understand you have the right, but it doesn't sit well with me that you're exercising it. Keeping it hidden from us, even Ichigo?"

Hiro then stood up and looked at Goro with a smile. "Goro, I'm sorry." As he walked out of the room, Yasuto began to pack his medical supplies away in his jump bag. All Goto could do as the door close was mutter to himself, "That idiot..."

Yasuto showed him a plastic pill bottle that contained a small sample of the blue mass Hiro had. "While he wasn't paying attention, I took this from the mass. I'm gonna send it to Dr. Franxx and see what the hell this is. If it comes back as cancerous, I'm reporting it."

"Good," Goro replied to him before he sighed and wiped his forehead. "Fucking hell, Hiro..."


	9. High Voltage: 9

"We detected klaxosaurs about 50 kilometers to the West," Hachi explained in the briefing room to Squads 13 and 26. "We estimate a minimum of 100 of them and a maximum of 150."

"150?!" Futoshi was shocked.

"That number is expected to climb," Hachi continued as the animations on the presentation screen showed the mass of klaxosaurs' predicted path. "The ETA of this mass is around 33 hours from now. No matter what we do, the Plantation Kissing process will not be complete when they do arrive. Because of this, we'll establish a defensive line. Squad 26 will be the primary line of defense, and Squad 13 will be backup."

Then, Kyouko interrupted the briefing by raising her hand. "Hachi, if we may, can me and my partner be attached to Squad 26, and maybe one of their pairs can go to the backup?" She then turned to 090. "After all, you did tell me that you guys were involved in heavy fighting not too long before the plantations kissed. Perhaps one of your pairs could catch a break and go with Squad 13, and we can go to the front."

Yasuto looked over at the annoyed faces of Squad 13 and assured them, "We're not trying to insult you guys, trust me!"

"It sounds like a good idea," Hachi noted. "Code 090, do you have any objections?"

"None I can think of," the leader of Squad 26 replied. "Codes 222 and 169 from my squad did take the most punishment from our last battle."

Code 222, who had a bandage around his head, noted to 090, "I was actually going to suggest a similar idea. You have my full permission."

"Same here," Code 169 replied from further away.

"Then it's settled," Hachi concluded as he looked over at Yasuto and Kyouko. "Codes 085 and 099 will pilot Heliconia with Squad 26, and Codes 222 and 169 will pilot Lymania with Squad 13." As Zorome and Miku shot Yasuto and Kyouko annoyed looks, Hachi moved on. "Anyways, defending the pipe that makes Plantation Kissing possible is our highest priority. As a result, there will be a Franxx unit capable of solo combat present as well."

Code 090 asked, "And what is that unit?"

"You may not like the answer," Hachi replied. "But that unit is Strelitzia."

The door to the briefing room then opened, and Nana, Zero Two, and Hiro stepped in. The brunette adult said to Hachi, "My apologies for being late. We are all set to go from Papa."

"Excellent," Hachi replied as he turned to the two squads. "If you do not know already, Hiro, or Code 016, will pilot as Code 002, or Zero Two's, partner. This is our best course of action at this time."

"You were right," 090 replied as he stood up from his seat and approached Hachi. "I don't like that answer at all. My squad cannot fight alongside Strelitzia."

"I understand your concerns completely," Hachi noted, knowing Code 090 would have complaints to make. "But this was already decided."

"I know that," Code 090 replied. "But... First off, I'd like to apologize in advance for being vulgar. Second, that girl doesn't give a shit about her team mates. How the hell can we trust her to have our backs?!" He then turned to Zero Two herself. "Code 002, you should know exactly why I have complaints to make."

"Is this about the joint operation two years ago?" Zero Two seemed to not care at all.

"Exactly," 090 angrily replied.

Kyouko noted to Kokoro, "I know what they're talking about."

Kokoro whispered back, "What happened?"

"I got lost on the battlefield because of your reckless behavior," 090 told her. "And I lost my partner as a result of being ambushed! Not only that, but we lost half of our squad at the time in the same battle!"

Zero Two looked down at herself. "Listen, 090. Pilots die. It's a risk that's part of being one. It happens."

090 angrily tried to approach her, but Hiro stepped in his way. "Listen to me, Code 090. I will keep her under control. She won't place you or your squad in danger with me. As her stamen, it is my responsibility."

Kokoro, her eyes widened with shock, whispered back to Kyouko, "So that's what happened?" The older brunette nodded.

* * *

As Squad 13 walked back to Mistilteinn, they discussed the meeting among themselves. "How can they just dismiss us as being a burden?" Zorome was still raging on about Code 090's remarks. "That pisses me off."

"To be fair," Futoshi added. "We are a new team."

"Still," Zorome replied. "He didn't have to phrase it like that."

"Maybe 090 is right," Goro suddenly chimed in, stopping the whole group. "Maybe Strelitzia shouldn't be part of the missio-"

"It was already decided," Hiro interrupted him. "Besides, I got this. Let's show them what we're made of. We can't just take their insults lying down, right?"

"Exactly," Zorome added, agreeing with Hiro for once. "Goro, don't chicken out on us now."

Goro, defeated, turned to his partner. "Ichigo, what do you think?"

"I agree," she replied, surprising Goro. He had thought that she would care too much about Hiro to let Strelitzia participate, but apparently he was wrong. "We need Strelitzia."

Kyouko then chimed in as she walked up to him to calmly reassure him. "Listen, Goro, I understand your concerns. However, I have full confidence that Hiro knows what he's doing." She then turned to Zero Two. "Hey, Zero Two, it feels odd just talking about you in the third-person while you're here. Do you have anything you'd like to add?"

"Not really," she replied, not really paying attention to the conversation. "I'll do whatever makes my Darling happy."

Kyouko smiled. "See? As long as Hiro is in the cockpit, you have little to worry about. Besides, if anything does happen to Strelitzia, you also have Heliconia to back you up."

* * *

Later that night, Yasuto and Kyouko walked out in their pajamas towards the garden from the main house. As they took in the sight of the dark forest around them and the raindrops as they fell, they both whispered and giggled to each other. Then, as they came to the garden, they noticed Zero Two standing by herself, her hair band on the ground and looking depressed. Yasuto said to his partner, "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," Kyouko replied back to him quietly. She called out to her, "Zero Two! Hey! Are you alright?"

The girl turned to them, her eyes bright red with fury. "What do you two want?"

Yasuto was taken aback by her anger. "Woah, Zero Two, are you alright?"

"It's nothing," she assured them harshly. "It doesn't concern either of you."

"It's about Hiro, isn't it?" Yasuto sighed as he began to infer that it was about the blue mass on Hiro's body. "Do you know about the mass on his body?"

"I did," Zero Two replied as her expression changed to that of sadness. "It happens."

Yasuto approached her and sternly told her, "Zero Two, you kept that secret from all of us. That could be a cancerous tumor for all we know."

"It isn't," she assured them calmly. "It's caused by a spike in yellow blood cells. As you may know by now, none of my partners before Hiro..." She then stopped herself as she looked down at her hands. "I mean... Before my Darling have survived the third ride. But... It feels like something is different this time. I don't know why, but I feel something deeper than all my other partners in the past."

Kyouko sighed and spoke to her, addressing her concerns. "Look, Zero Two, we've known you for much longer than anyone in Squad 13 has. We stick up for you a lot because we know deep down that you aren't just an important asset to Papa. You're so much more than just a pilot, and as a certain young boy in the Garden once taught his fellow parasites and even us, there's more to life than piloting a Franxx unit."

Zero Two did not reply as she turned away and began to walk towards the creek bed. Yasuto said to her as she walked away, "Where are you going, Zero Two?!"

"To the creek to get some sleep," she replied back. "No, that's not a metaphor for suicide." As she disappeared from view, the two older parasites looked at each other, not knowing what to think.

Kyouko asked him, "Do you still wanna have sex after all that?"

Yasuto chuckled. "I'm not gonna let that get in the way." He then playfully pushed Kyouko towards the ground as the two began to laugh, their pajamas getting muddied in the dirt. As the two playfully fought, he told her, "Sex in the outdoors is so much fun."

"Come on," Kyouko replied back to him as she suddenly turned him over and landed on top of him, pressing her body against his. "Don't let me be the one on the bottom the whole damn time." The two then began to kiss as they slowly undid their pajamas.

The whole time, Zero Two was peering at them from afar in the forest. She had stopped silently crying to herself from what Kyouko had said when she saw the two pilots begin foreplay. She knew what sex was due to being given access to "forbidden ideas" like Kyouko and Yasuto had been, but had never had it before. She said to herself as she smiled, "Maybe me and my Darling can do that one day. It looks like so much fun." She then turned around and continued her walk to the creek, wiping away the last of her tears.

* * *

 _ **Author's Words:**_

Hey guys, thisissparta789789 here! I want to wish all the readers a Happy New Year! 2018 was a good year for me, and I hope 2019 is even better!

As for where this story will go, it will follow canon mostly up until the ending of the show, of course with some differences as seen to be fit. Expect more updates soon!


	10. The Razors Edge: 10

_**4 and a Half Years Prior**_

A younger Kyouko and Yasuto, both about 13, watched over a small newborn that looked all around its surroundings, wondering what was going on, in a hospital wing, wearing medical scrubs, masks, and rubber gloves. "So this came from a parasite?" Kyouko was curious as to what the newborn was.

"I guess so," Yasuto replied. "09-, or, Kyouko, this must be what the Adults were referring to when they mentioned that that pilot had human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a while back. However this little... human... was made, it secretes hCG while inside the parasite." He then waved hi to the newborn. "Hello there."

Kyouko then picked the newborn up and huddled it close to her body, carefully carrying it. "It... Or, well, she... Doesn't appear to speak. The Adults did mention that humans don't learn language until they're about two years old. Anyways, Code 383 didn't look happy when she was taken. Maybe there's some sort of connection that she has with whatever they'll number this little thing." She then looked down at the newborn, which had bright blue eyes, and felt a connection to it. "It feels weird when I hold her. It's as if I have some kind of bond with her already." Suddenly, the newborn tried to reach for her chest, startling her slightly but not letting go of her grip on the newborn. "Huh? It's trying to reach for my chest? Didn't we see it do that with 383 when they let her have it for like an hour?"

"It began to actually try to drink something from the chest," Yasuto replied. "You know how milk comes from udders? Well, I guess pistils make milk, too, but only if they're..." The word for pregnancy escaped Yasuto's mind. "Whatever that word is for when this happens." For some reason, he began to feel an attraction to his partner, not as a fellow pilot, but as something much more. "They're called breasts, I guess."

"I see," Kyouko replied, surprised by the info. "I've always wondered why they started growing like that last year when we were still in the Garden."

Then, an Adult walked in. "Code 085, Code 099, we'll take care of the newborn for now. Thank you for watching over it." Kyouko then gave the newborn to the Adult, almost reluctantly. "She will make a great addition to the Garden."

"What about 383?" Yasuto was curious.

"She will have to go in for some retraining," the Adult explained. "Along with her partner, Code 197. They'll be back out in the field soon enough, and they'll be fine."

"Before you go, sir," Kyouko asked. "How was she made? Am I capable of the same thing?"

The Adult paused for a few seconds as he contemplated his decisions. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but..." He then turned around. "You know how animals mate?" Both of the parasites nodded. "Well, it's the same for humans, or, it was. You guys, being that you're medical and IT apprentices, will know about this eventually, but I'm not supposed to be telling you any of this, so keep your mouths shut. Code 383 and Code 197 had sex, or, well, mated. Thing is, parasites are not supposed to do that, because it may lead to pregnancy, which is what makes this newborn, or baby, or child, or infant, or whatever. That's why their memories have to be altered when they get retrained. We'll take good care of their child, though. She will make a good pilot one day."

Kyouko was at a loss for words. Yasuto immediately replied, "Is there a way to prevent that?"

"We are supposed to terminate a pregnancy if we catch it," the Adult replied. "They're rare. This is the first time this year this has happened, and the first time in three years a pregnancy got carried to term. Those two parasites ran from their plantation, and we didn't catch them until it was too late. That's about all I can tell you, unfortunately."

Kyouko replied to him, "Thank you." As the Adult walked away, Kyouko looked back at her partner. "Yasuto, I feel something. It's odd." She then looked around to see if there were cameras, and noticed none. She then got up and locked the door to the room, preventing anyone from seeing or coming in or out. "Ever since we were in the Garden, I've thought about you every single day of my life. I've always wanted to get close to you, but now, I feel like I need to get closer. You're in my very soul, tormenting me." She then took her gloves and mask off before slowly taking Yasuto's mask off as her face reddened. "I can't hold it in much longer. I wish I could just tell these feelings to go away so I could focus on piloting, but I can't. That experience with the newborn drove me over the edge. It feels like I'm suffocating, and I need to get my words out." By now, she was beginning to plead with him.

As she lightly pushed Yasuto to the ground, she knelt above him, breathing heavily. Yasuto asked her, "Kyouko... What is it that you feel?"

"I think it's love," she replied. "But... How do I express it? All I know is that I feel the need to be physically closer." She the instinctively reached down and gave her partner a long and passionate kiss, to which he returned. The two then rolled over, with Yasuto now on top of her. As they split, Kyouko noticed how he was pushed into her chest, but didn't care.

"Kyouko," Yasuto replied. "Code 099, I have felt the same way. I think this is what drives animals to mate." The two then blushed before Kyouko gave out a chuckle. "What is it?"

"It's nothing, silly," she replied as she smiled. "It's just that last line was so weird. But... You do seem right... The door is locked, and we have nothing to lose." She then began to slide her arms out of her scrubs through the collar before pushing them down. "This isn't the first time you've seen them, I know."

The two then laughed. Yasuto followed up with, "It is the first time I've seen them voluntarily, though." The two then began to kiss again as they felt each other's bodies with their hands, desperately reaching for each other more as Yasuto ran his fingers through her light brown hair. "Let's do that thing, if we can figure it out."

* * *

 _ **Present**_

In the showers, Ichigo poured water from a wooden bucket down onto herself while sitting on a bench. As she put the bucket down, she sat still and looked at her reflection in the mirror, contemplating her decisions up to that point. _"Am I really the right person for this?"_

"Ichigo," Kyouko suddenly called out as she walked over. "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" The bluenette turned around. "Kyouko-oneesan..."

The older pilot was slightly taken aback by Ichigo's politeness. "Uh..."

"My apologies," Ichigo replied to her. "Maybe that was a bit too formal. It's just... All of us at Squad 13 have really grown on you and Yasuto-oniisan. Anyway, Kyouko, have you ever been made to do something that still sticks with you?"

Kyouko had many, many ideas, but few that she could tell Ichigo lest she be arrested for insurrection. "Well, me and Yasuto have made decisions in the field we've come to regret due to them negatively affecting the outcome of a battle."

"I feel like at times I'm too focused on Hiro," the leader explained to her. "I need to zoom out and focus on the team, but..."

"I understand," Kyouko replied as she wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. "By the way, you don't mind me doing this since we're... You know..." She made a mental note in her thoughts, _"All the girls on this team are pretty good-looking, I gotta say. Of course, nothing comes close to my dear Yasuto."_

"No, not really," Ichigo assured her. "It's fine."

"You and him were close in the Garden," Kyouko explained to her. "It's perfectly normal. However, you are right in that you do need to take a step back and look out for your whole team at times. Ichigo, I have full confidence in you."

The bluenette smiled. "Thank you..."

* * *

"We have updated intelligence on the Klaxosaurs," stated Joint Dispatch over the radio network as Squad 13 gathered in formation outside the Kissing Link between Plantations 13 and 26. "Aside from the many Conrad-class Klaxosaurs, we also have an unknown new type in the middle of the formation. This one has never been seen before, so it will be nicknamed Target Beta for now. Due to its size, attacking it is out of the question for now. Instead, prioritize the Conrad-class Klaxosaurs instead."

Delphinium, Argentea, Chlorophytum, and Genista stood behind the rest of Squad 26 plus Heliconia, who stood by Code 090's Franxx unit. Strelitzia watched the proceedings from atop the Kissing Link itself as the Rapid Intervention Team. Kyouko turned to 090's Franxx in Heliconia and noted to it, "That thing is fucking huge."

"Tell me about it," his partner replied through their Franxx. "And to think, me and 090 thought we had seen it all."

"For this mission, Code 090 will have Incident Command, and Code 085 will have Operations."

"Understood," both 090 and Yasuto replied over the radio. "Squad 26, Heliconia, let's do this."

The rest of Squad 13 began to watch in amazement as Squad 26 and Heliconia began to methodically kill each Conrad-class they came across. Squad 26's 5 Franxx units would wrap the Conrad-class up with their harpoons, immobilizing them. Then, Heliconia would jump up in the air, strike down on the Conrad-class, and then fire off its shotgun shells in its harpoon, destroying the Klaxosaur. The process was relatively fast, and by the end, they had easily destroyed at least 34.

"Guys," Kyouko said through Heliconia to Squad 13. "You got one or two coming up to ya!"

090 then transmitted a private message to Heliconia. "Code 085, I wonder... What's a parasite like Code 015 doing on such a makeshift team?"

"Makeshift?"

"They even have Code 016," 090 noted. "It just seems odd they'd place two highly-ranked pilots in a squad like that, but even moreso since you're in it."

"Ichigo personally requested to be placed in the squad," Yasuto explained to him. "Both because of her friends and because she wanted a leadership challenge. I can't blame her."

"Joint Dispatch to 090," said a dispatcher as he interrupted the conversation.

"090."

"We have a second wave coming in to your 10-10," he explained. "Do you want to roll with a third alarm?"

"Negative at this time," 090 replied back. "We can take on the second wave. I will advise you if things change." He then addressed Squad 26 and Heliconia. "Squad 26, form up on me and take out the second wave. Heliconia, join up with Squad 13 for now, and we'll rotate you back in later."

"Got it," Kyouko replied. She then switched to stealth mode and sneered to herself, "Really? We were doing fine."

Meanwhile, up top, Zero Two looked out from the opened cockpit of Strelitzia and admired the sights of the battle. "Man, being RIT sucks." She then turned to Hiro. "Darling, take a look."

Hiro, who was sweating and clutching his chest in slight pain, looked up. "Huh?"

"Seems like they're having a bit of trouble with the battle," Zero Two replied as she stretched her arms. "I wish we could just jump in."

Hiro then thought to himself for a minute before asking a question that had lingered with him ever since he met Zero Two. "Hey, why do you want to fight klaxosaurs so badly? You always seem to have so much fun. Is there a reason?"

"Maybe it's because I'm a monster," Zero Two replied unnervingly cheerfully. "And I want to prove my humanity. But enough of my dumb reasons. What about you?"

"Well," Hiro said as he recalled his own reasons. "We were born to fight. It is our purpose in life to serve Papa and the Adults in the plantations."

"Huh... How boring, to be honest... No offense." Zero Two thought to herself, _"It's the same damn reply I get from every stamen that pilots with me."_

Hiro and Zero Two then looked each other in the eye as an awkward silence began. Hiro spoke first to break it, saying, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Exactly," she replied as she hopped in. "Screw RIT! Let's join in, Darling!"


	11. Vitalogy: 11

As Heliconia brushed itself off and walked back to Squad 13, Kyouko said to Argentea. "Hey, Miku, Zorome, you guys doing alright?"

"Yeah," Miku replied through Argentea. Suddrnly, they both were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Strelitzia on the battlefield as it zoomed by them. "Huh? Strelitzia?"

Yasuto, slightly annoyed, said to himself, "What the fuck?"

090 radioed to Heliconia as Strelitzia began to almost effortlessly sweep through various Klaxosaurs, "Guys, are you seeing this?"

"Yep," Kyouko replied. "She ignored orders." She then chuckled. "She always does."

Hiro then joined in on the conversation with, "I'm just here to help my squad out, that's all."

"Hiro," Yasuto then told him. "Listen to me carefully. If, at any point, you need to take a break, don't be afraid to tell Zero Two that. We'll make sure she gives you one. We don't want you tiring yourself out, okay?"

"He'll be fine," Zero Two almost cut Yasuto off with. "My Darling will do just fine, right?"

"Yeah," Hiro agreed as the two closed out of the conversation.

Kyouko then told her partner as she swiveled her head inside the cockpit, "Do you think they'll need any help?"

"Nah," Yasuto replied, shaking his head. "They'll be fine."

As Strelitzia continued its attack, Squad 26 chose to ignore her and continue their own plans. Meanwhile, Squad 13 debated amongst themselves on what to do. Futoshi noted to the group, "Should one of us tell her to get back to her post?"

"If anyone is gonna do that," Ichigo replied to him. "It needs to be me. As her leader, I have that authority."

"If she doesn't listen," Kyouko told Ichigo. "We'll tell her as well."

As the team watched Strelitzia suddenly slow down, indicating there was a connection problem, Goro became concerned. "Ichigo, move in now."

"On it," she replied as Delphinium suddenly swooped in between Strelitzia and a Klaxosaur it was about to kill. "Strelitzia, get back to RIT! That's an order!"

"Fine," Zero Two begrudgingly replied. "How bossy." Strelitzia then flew back to its original staging area, much to Zero Two's dismay.

As Delphinium returned to the rest of Squad 13, 090 transmitted, "Squad 13, you guys can return to your original assignments. We'll take Target Beta for ourselves."

"10-4," Ichigo replied. As Squad 13 looked to Target Beta, they were in awe at its size. It was a large box-shaped Klaxosaur, with horns on the side, but no limbs to attack. "How exactly does that thing work?"

"No clue here," Kyouko replied. "And that's saying something. This thing is brand new to us."

As Squad 26 wrapped its electricity-charged harpoons around the Klaxosaur, they all applied a strong shock to it in an attempt to kill it and stop it from moving. However, instead of dying, it produced a loud and deafening shriek, forcing all involved in the battle to cover their ears in pain. Mitsuru said to himself inside Chlorophytum, "What the hell is that noise?!"

Suddenly, the box began to open up, and to everyone's shock, the Klaxosaur transformed into a Gutenberg-class, one of the most feared types of Klaxosaur. Yasuto said to himself, "Ohhhhh shit."

Ichigo yelled out in shock, "A Gutenberg-class?!"

090, determined to fight back, yelled out, "Attack it again! We can kill it!" Squad 26 then sprung back into action, firing their harpoons. However, all they succeeded in doing was attaching themselves to the Guttenberg-class, allowing it to throw them around like dolls onto the ground. As 090 attempted to get back up in his Franxx, he called out, "Everyone, fall back!" Suddenly, however, he came face-to-face with his worst fear.

The Klaxosaur stared directly at him, and was about to crush him.

He immediately tried to fire up the engines on his Franxx, but found that they no longer worked as empty fuel warnings popped up inside the cockpit. "We're out of fuel! Are you fucking kidding me?!" He then looked up at what he thought would be his final moments as the Gutenberg-class came down on him, closing his eyes just before impact.

However, when he opened them, he saw that he was instead being carried away by Argentea, safe from harm. "You owe me for this!"

"Huh?" 090 was initially confused, but then relieved as Argentea laid his Franxx down on the ground. "Zorome! Thank you!"

"No problem," he replied as Argentea sped back into battle.

Dispatch then radioed out, "Joint Dispatch to all Squad 26 units, go 10-8 at this time. Squad 13 will take the Gutenberg-class."

"Received," Ichigo replied She then said to her team mates. "That's easier said than done."

"Regardless of how," Mitsuru noted. "We have to kill it sooner rather than later."

"I think we'll need Strelitzia at this point," Miku somewhat reluctantly told the team.

"You can count on us," Hiro replied to her. He was tired out, but still not down for the count just yet.

However, Ichigo seemed to have other plans. "Hiro, no. Stay where you are, Strelitzia."

Zorome, in shock, replied back, "Wait, are you serious?"

"Ichigo," Kyouko replied to her in turn. "What are you doing?"

"I have a plan," she replied back. "I want to use Strelitzia in the final blow."

"Everyone," Goro spoke up. "What we need to do is create an opening for Strelitzia to get through. Only it has a weapon sharp enough to penetrate the core of that Gutenberg-class. Isn't that your plan, Ichigo?"

"Well, uh," Ichigo stammered out. "Yeah! Totally! That's the plan!" She then nervously laughed.

"Hiro," Goro addressed directly. "You got all that?"

"Absolutely," he replied with determination.

"On that note," Ichigo radioed to all of Squad 13. "Squad 13, attack!" The whole of Squad 13 then moved out, jumping onto the Gutenberg class to rip it apart at the seams.

Heliconia used its harpoon to dig into the side, and then proceeded to climb up the Klaxosaur, using its harpoon to hold on. All the while, it fired shotgun shells from its perforated harpoon with each stab it made, damaging the Klaxosaur further. As it continued to climb up, the Klaxosaur began to fall in severe pain and collapse to the ground, giving Strelitzia the chance to attack from above. As it stopped and jumped off to get out of the way, Yasuto said to himself, "I just hope Hiro's alright in there."

"He'll be fine," Kyouko told him through Stealth Mode. "You know, I noticed you didn't put any music on. Why don't we change that?"

Suddenly, Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins began to play in the cockpit. Yasuto laughed. "Of course... This song is a bit cheesy, but I can roll with it."

Outside, Strelitzia had just penetrated the outer skin of the Klaxosaur from above with its spear, and had begun to dig itself in when the Klaxosaur ceased all movement. For a couple seconds, it looked like it had finally been defeated. However, suddenly, the Klaxosaur began to move once more, and it effortlessly slapped Strelitzia away into the linking area between the two plantations, much to the shock of Squad 13.

"Holy shit," Yasuto screamed as he turned off the music. "Hiro! Zero Two!"

As Strelitzia struggled to stay up, the Klaxosaur began to rapidly change form into a battering ram-like structure, ready to crush it at a moment's notice. Inside the cockpit of Strelitzia, chaos ensued as Hiro began to pass out from exhaustion. Zero Two said to him, "Huh? Darling? Hey! What's up?! Darling?!" Oddly, for one of the first times, she had suddenly grown extremely worried for her partner, and began to beg for him to wake up. "Wake up, damn it!"

"HIRO, RUN!" Ichigo screamed loudly as the Klaxosaur's battering ram fired at Strelitzia, crushing it against the wall of the Plantation Kissing Link with a loud explosion. All Squad 13 could do was watch in horror as Strelitzia's link disappeared.

Inside the cockpit, Zero Two turned around as her body woke up. "Darling! Hey!" This behavior was very uncharacteristic of her, as normally she would just continue fighting regardless of her partner's status. She shook Hiro's seemingly lifeless body as blood dripped from his mouth and blue veins continued to appear on his skin. "Fucking hell, wake up!" Then, as she heard the Klaxosaur move behind her, she turned around and got back in her seat. _"What the hell am I doing? Why am I so attached to this partner?! I have a job I need to do!"_ She then pressed a button in her riding position and said into it, "Activate Stampede Mode." For reasons not even she could explain, tears began to fall from her eyes.

As the Klaxosaur began to ready itself for another barrage, Goro shouted to Strelitzia, "Hiro! Zero Two! Get up! Come on! You can't let them kill you after all you've done!"

Ichigo stared hopelessly at the Klaxosaur for several seconds before the connection between her and Goro was cut, and Delphinium shut down.

Kyouko noticed this as the rest of Squad 13 tried to tell Hiro and Zero Two to get up, and said to herself, "Oh shit!" She then turned to Yasuto, "Hey, Yasuto, get to Delphinium and break the connection. I need to get in there for a sec."

"Got it," Yasuto replied as he made Heliconia walk towards Delphinium. Once it was there, Heliconia shut off, and the cockpit opened up. Kyouko stood up and ran out to the edge of the exiting platform that extended out, and radioed, "Goro, can you open the cockpit up?"

"On it," Goro replied as the cockpit opened up. As soon as it did, Kyouko jumped over and climbed aboard as Goro comforted Ichigo.

"I couldn't stop him from piloting," Ichigo said to herself as she cried. "God damn it..."

"Hey, listen," Goro told her as he looked her dead in the eyes. "This is no time to shut down. We still have a job to do."

Kyouko approached from behind Goro and told her calmly, "Ichigo, you're going to see death. There will come a time where..." She then sighed as she remembered her own traumatic memories of past deaths. "Where you'll have to say goodbye... What matters is how you react. Hiro needs you to keep fighting. Zero Two does, too. Listen, I know she's distant and cold, but there's a person beneath that mask, and she isn't cruel. You need to get up and continue, lest you join them, and trust me, they will kick your ass if you do."

Ichigo then sniffled as wiped her face. "Well... I... I really can't argue with you... Your own past makes my own troubles almost meaningless..."

"Don't say that," the brunette replied to her. "Don't put yourself down like that."

"Kyouko," Yasuto then suddenly radioed. "Get back in Heliconia! There's a giant light coming from where Strelitzia is! I think they survived!"

All three of them looked over in amazement as a giant beam of light emanated from that area of the Kissing Link. "I gotta go," Kyouko told Goro and Ichigo as she jumped out and climbed back aboard Heliconia to pilot once more. However, just as she linked up with Yasuto again, the Gutenberg exploded, rendering their jobs fulfilled.

As Strelitzia steadied itself on the ground, Yasuto radioed to Hiro, "Hey, buddy, are you okay in there?"

"I feel better than ever," Hiro happily replied. "Same as Zero Two!"

"Thank God," Goro radioed next. "You're alive!"

As the team watched in amazement, Yasuto switched to Stealth Mode and pressed a button to call Joint Dispatch by telephone. "Plantation 13 Emergency Communications?"

"Hi," Yasuto replied. "This is Code 085 from Heliconia. Can you put me through to Nana and Hachi?"

"On it," the dispatcher replied.

"Kissing Operations Board," Hachi replied on the phone.

"Hey, Hachi, this is Yasuto," he replied. "Can you tell me and Kyouko the status of Hiro's health stats?"

"They're fine now," Hachi replied in a surprised tone. "Just a few minutes ago, we had all though he died. His health was declining throughout the entire battle, but now, he's healthier than ever."

Yasuto said in curious reply, "Interesting." He then saw that the Gutenberg was once again changing forms. "I'll have to talk to you later. This fucking Klaxosaur doesn't know when to quit."

"I can only imagine your frustration," he replied. "Good luck." The phone call then ended.

"Let's help them," Kyouko replied as Stealth Mode came off. Heliconia then joined in with Squad 13 as they all charged at the Klaxosaur, determined to kill it while it was heavily weakened. As all of them held the Klaxosaur up to create an opening, Strelitzia saw the opportunity for the kill and took it, flying straight through the Klaxosaur and impaling its core with its spear. Soon after, a massive explosion of blue blood enveloped the entire team as they landed on the ground, the blast rocking them slightly, but not knocking them down.

"Holy shit," Yasuto exclaimed in joyous excitement as he smiled. He then radioed to Hiro and Zero Two, "Great job, you two! That was one in a thousand!"

* * *

After the battle was over, 090 met up with Kyouko and Yasuto outside on the battlefield as both squads demobilized and stretched. "Hey," he replied as he walked over to them. "You guys did awesome."

"Thank you," Kyouko replied as she turned to Hiro. "But it wasn't us that did the kill."

"You're right," he replied as he shook both of their hands. "Hopefully, we'll meet again on the battlefield." He then walked over to the rest of Squad 13.

Yasuto then noticed that Zero Two was standing off to the side, away from everyone else. "Huh? Hey, Zero Two! Come on over! You deserve to celebrate like the rest of us!"

Hiro noticed this as well and also waved her over. "Zero Two, you were amazing out there!"

Zero Two wiped the blood off of her face, smiled, and began to walk over. "Thank you, Darling." As she walked over, she passed by 090 and looked over at him, unsure of what to say.

"Zero Two," 090 suddenly interrupted her. "I... I wanted to say thank you." He then extended a hand for a handshake, which Zero Two accepted.

"It's nothing important," she replied happily. "It's my job."

* * *

In a dark meeting room after Squad 13 had returned to their plantation, Yasuto alone met with Dr. Franxx. "So," he began. "Do you think Hiro may be the permanent pilot for Zero Two?"

"At this rate," he replied. "Absolutely. Any traces of that growth you and Goro found is gone." He then sighed. "On a lighter note, how's your music collection?"

"We haven't rescued any tapes or discs since we were transferred to Squad 13," Yasuto noted. "I'm surprised Papa's patience hasn't worn thin in our collecting."

"You'd be surprised at the musical tastes of the other members of the council," Dr. Franxx replied with a chuckle. "It is very diverse. Remember, though, they let you two get away with stuff like music collection because of your skills. If you mess up just a bit, they may not be as patient." He seemed concerned in his tone of voice. "Since I know there's no recording devices in this room, I can say that I hope you and Kyouko keep your sexual activities on the down-low, as you have for these past four and a half years." He had known about the two's relationship from the very start, but had kept it a secret. He was the only person aside from Kyouko and Yasuto themselves who knew. "I must say, I am very impressed with how good you two can be at lying or keeping secrets."

Yasuto smiled. "Thank you, Doctor."


	12. Volunteers: 12

As Squad 13 gazed at the beautiful blue ocean in front of them, Zorome and Futoshi could barely contain their excitement. They both shouted in unison, "THE OCEAN!" They both then made a break for it as they jumped in.

"How childish," Miku scorned. "Being on break doesn't mean you can get carried awa-"

She was then interrupted when Kyouko ran out to the ocean as well. "COUNT ME IN, GUYS!" She was wearing a black bikini and had her shoulder-length brown hair tied back in a similar manner to Ikuno, while Yasuto wore black swim trunks. As she jumped in, Yasuto joined her, both of then laughing as they had fun.

"I can't blame them," Kokoro replied to an annoyed Miku. "Even the oldest of us can let loose, so why can't we? Besides, this is the first ocean we've seen that's safe to swim in."

As Goro placed an umbrella up, he called out to the parasites in the water, "Make sure you guts don't go too far out!"

"We know," Yasuto replied from the ocean. "We've dived in worse waters than this!"

"They must be referring to their combat experience," Ichigo noted to Goro. "I know that some parasites are trained in deep-sea diving and exploration. I bet they are, too."

"Is there anything they're not trained in?" Goro then laughed.

* * *

 _Earlier_

Yasuto and Kyouko joined Nana, Hachi, and Dr. Franxx as they met with Hiro and Zero Two in the loading bay of Cerasus. As they met up, Werner started with, "Zero Two, I'm glad to see you're okay!"

"All thanks to my darling," Zero Two cheerfully replied. "You know, you didn't have to come all this way. We would have been fine."

Hiro then raised his hand. "So, who are you, again?"

"Ah," Werner replied. "Code 016, Hiro. I am Doctor Werner Frank, or Doctor Franxx, the creator of the Franxx Program." He then shook Hiro's extended hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"We have known Dr. Franxx for most of our lives," Kyouko explained to Hiro. "In our final year in the Garden, we were his understudies, and he was the one who suggested we graduate a year early. Since then, we've become so close that often, me and Yasuto often refer to him as Werner or Doc."

Nana added, "We also have another visitor for you to meet, Code 016."

"No need for an introduction," said a blonde young man as he stepped into the light. "We're sure to run into each other again soon." He then approached Hiro. "So, you're the first person to survive a third ride, huh? I must say, I have taken a great interest in Squad 13 and its exploits."

Yasuto thought to himself with hidden contempt, _"Of course he had to stick his nose into this."_ He then cordially re-introduced himself to the man. "We have already met before, but I'm glad to see you work with us again, Nine Alpha."

"Same to you," Nine Alpha replied. "You and Code 099 were always a great pair on the battlefield. I think an experimental squad like Squad 13 is a great fit for you. Be sure to keep Nine Iota safe for us." He then chuckled.

Zero Two rolled her eyes at the mention of her old name. Kyouko also shook Nine Alpha's hand, despite her own contempt for him.

* * *

 _Present_

Miku, Kokoro, and Kyouko played a three-way volleyball game on the sand of the beach. Miku readied herself as she excitedly yelled out, "Ready!"

"Alright," Kokoro replied before she served the ball, hitting it to Miku. "There!"

As she did, however, Kyouko looked over to her and became distracted, slightly blushing as she looked over at her chest. Suddenly, however, she was knocked back into reality when the ball hit her on the top of the head, knocking her to her knees but not to the ground. "Agh, fuck!"

Miku, concerned, asked her as she rushed over, "Oh my God, are you okay?!"

"Yeah," Kyouko replied as she brushed sand off of herself. "I wasn't paying attention." She then chuckled. "But, I'm fine." She then served the ball to Miku. _"Damn it, curse my bisexuality."_

Meanwhile, out in the water, Zorome, Futoshi, Goro, and Yasuto enjoyed the sights to see on the beach, namely the girls. "It seems like the girls are 50% cuter today," Zorome noted to the gang. "I don't know why."

"Sure is a sight for the eyes," Goro replied.

Futoshi asked him, "So, you're one of us?"

"I always thought you double-digit pilots were goody-two-shoes," Zorome told Goro and Yasuto.

"Not at all," Yasuto replied gleefully. "Trust me, Zorome, me and Kyouko have done some odd stuff before."

"Exactly," Goro added on. "We're guys, too."

"While you guys can gawk at the other's," Yasuto told the other three. "I'll sit back and enjoy looking at the one that matters the most."

Zorome, slightly annoyed, remarked, "Don't tell me you and Kyouko do that darling crap Hiro and Zero Two do, too."

"Nah," Yasuto shook his head. "We're past that. We've become so familiar with each other that we can't imagine life without the other, but we can still be casual and friendly without being too over the top like those two." The four of them then saw Kokoro and Miku collide with each other on the beach as Kyouko ran over to help.

"Your partner is like Kokoro physically," Zorome told Yasuto. "But older."

Futoshi quickly replied to defend Kokoro, "Kyouko's great, but nothing can compare to Kokoro!"

On the beach, Kyouko laughed as Kokoro and Miku got up, sand falling from them. "Oh my God! You two need to get on my level with this game!"

"Agh," Miku replied as she got up. "I think the string on my top is getting undone." She then held up her top with both of her hands and the strings.

"I'll fix it," Kokoro replied as she looked at it and began to tie it back up. As she did that, Kyouko fixed Kokoro's right strap. "Huh?"

"It was beginning to fall," Kyouko replied. "Wouldn't want it falling off on the beach now, ri-?" Suddenly, she felt her bikini top completely slip off, and wind impact her bare chest as she paused. "Uh... It fell completely off, didn't it?"

Miku looked at her with her eyes wide. "Kyouko, it did..." Kyouko could tell that she was slightly envious of her bust size. "And the boys are staring."

Kyouko turned around to see Futoshi and Zorome looking at her in awe while Goro blushed and Yasuto laughed, much to the shock of Kokoro and Miku, who both said, "SO YOU TURN AROUND TO FACE THEM?!"

Not caring, she picked up her bikini top and began to put it back on. "What is it? Yasuto's seen me naked before. It's no big deal. I used to be really embarrassed about it like you guys, but a few years of being familiar with people changes that. By the way, can you tie the back, Kokoro?"

"Sure," Kokoro replied as she tied the back of the top, still wondering how and why she felt so comfortable in a position she herself would be red in the face about. "You're insane for doing that."

"Maybe I am," Kyouko joyfully replied and giggled.

A few minutes later, Yasuto approached Ikuno and Mitsuru as he exited the water. "Come on in! You're missing out, you two!"

"No thanks," Ikuno replied. "I'm content with sitting here and reading." She then showed him the cover of a murder mystery novel she was reading.

"There is something else we can do," Mitsuru suggested. "I found something interesting. You and Kyouko might be interested in it."

* * *

"Here we are," Mitsuru replied as the whole gang walked upon a ruined city near the beach. "I had no idea this was back here at all."

Miku, curious as to the ruined sights around her, asked, "What exactly is this place?"

Kyouko explained as she opened up a duffel bag she had been carrying, "This is a Pre-Klaxosaur City. This is how humanity lived before we were forced into the plantations by the Klaxosaurs. It was a much simpler time then, but not terrible." She then slipped socks on before she put on two rubber boots and a thick orange coat with yellow stripes that went down to the knees.

Hiro, wondering what kind of clothing Yasuto and Kyouko were putting on, asked, "Uh, what is that?"

"This is Damage Control Level F gear," Yasuto explained as he then put a tank of compressed air on his back. "It consists of a pair of rubber boots that you can pull up to the hip, a long coat that goes down to the knees, a hood that goes under your coat, a red helmet, gloves, and a self-contained breathing apparatus. Damage Controlmen are trained to conduct minor repairs, fight fires, perform rescues, and decontaminate weaponry and other gear. Level F gear is meant for fire suppression and rescue, but also can be used for other purposes." He then secured his helmet. "It's heavy, too. We brought the duffel bags for our Level F gear here in case something came up."

As the gang admired their gear, Futoshi asked, "The self-whatever thing contains oxygen, right?"

"Not oxygen," Kyouko replied. "Compressed air, just like the air we're breathing now, but compressed into a bottle. These bottles carry about 60 minutes of air compressed into 5500 pounds per square inch, or about 380 bar. In reality, if you're fighting a fire, it's more like 50 or so minutes, if not only 45." She then adjusted the straps on her pack. "Anyway, these cities haven't been occupied in decades. We got this gear out because there may be dangerous gases in some buildings, so be careful."

"That sounds cool," Kokoro noted to her. "Maybe I can do that one day, too."

* * *

Later on, Kyouko and Kokoro walked into an abandoned doctor's office together. "I'll go in first." Kyouko then slowly walked in and looked around for any hazards. Inside, the reception area was overgrown with various weeds and other plants, and the books in the bookshelf were moldy. "Hmmm... Come on in."

As Kokoro walked in and looked around, she remarked, "This must be where people went to when they got hurt or sick back then."

"It was," Kyouko replied. "You can still see some of the medicine bottles inside the receptionists' area." She then pointed it out. "Medicine has come very far from then." She then noticed that Kokoro seemed fixated on a book on the floor below her. "Huh?" As she stepped out of the way, she continued to look around, but froze in her tracks when Kokoro spoke next.

"A baby? What's that?"

Immediately, Kyouko turned around and noticed that the book the younger pilot held was titled 'Your First Childbirth: What's Best For Your Baby,' much to her horror. Kyouko ripped the book from her hands and told her, "Kokoro, you are not to tell a soul about thi-"

Suddenly, they both heard the ceiling above them creak just as a male voice from behind Kokoro shouted her name. Immediately and suddenly, Kokoro was pulled to the ground just as the ceiling above them partially gave way and fell to the floor, with Kyouko jumping back. However, Kokoro was still hit by a piece of wood, knocking her out. As the dust settled, Mitsuru was heard trying to wake her up. "Kokoro, hey!"

"Mitsuru?" Kyouko then pushed away the debris and walked over just as she saw Mitsuru accidentally look down at Kokoro's partially exposed chest, blushing intensely just as she began to wake up.

"Uh," Mitsuru stammered. "She's... She's fine..."

"Ugh," Kokoro said as she staggered up and fixed her bra. "That hurt..." She then noticed Mitsuru behind her. "Oh, hey!"

"Please don't run off like that," Mitsuru told both Kokoro and Kyouko. "I can't guarantee your safety."

Kyouko then noticed she was still holding onto the childbirth book. As she decided to hand it back to Kokoro, she sighed and thought, _"I'm going to regret this later, am I?"_ "Here," she told Kokoro. "Have it back."

"Thank you," Kokoro replied as she grabbed the book. "Why did you take it?"

"Okay," Kyouko said as she got serious with the two of them. "I need you and you to promise me that you will never, and I mean never, tell a soul that you own that book. Kokoro, Mitsuru, you are free to read it, but take that book and whatever information is in it to your graves. Nobody else can know." She was adamant the two keep the book's existence a secret, and for good reason, as Papa banned such knowledge among parasites. "If anyone finds out, you two can get in trouble. Serious trouble."

Kokoro was now scared of the book. "Why should I keep it then?"

"Because it has the true meaning of life," Kyouko explained. "That book contains the truth, and you need to know it." She then turned to Mitsuru. "Same to you."

Mitsuru then sighed, not knowing what the big deal was. "What's the big deal? Why is it so forbidden?"

"You'll both know when the time comes," she simply told them. "Now, come. We have a city to explore." She then walked out of the doctor's office, closely followed by Kokoro and Mitsuru, both of which were still unsure about the book or its significance. Indeed, the very discovery of that book would be the beginning of a series of events that would change the history of Earth forever.


	13. Made in Heaven: 13

Later, during that night, Squad 13 gathered for a barbecue on the beach. As Futoshi, Zorome, and Yasuto helped to cook and serve the food, Kyouko used a laptop and a tape recording machine to copy the audio of several cassettes she and Yasuto had found in the ruined city. Ikuno looked over and asked her, "What did you guys find?"

"So fat." she explained to her. "I think we got a cassette tape of an album by a group called Nirvana, and two more from a group called B'z."

"Nirvana? As in the Buddhist concept of the highest state of happiness and freedom?" Ikuno was confused as to why a band would name themselves after a religious concept.

"Yeah," Kyouko replied. "Their music is much grittier and harder compared to older rock bands. In the pre-APE era this music was known as grunge. I'm on the song Heart-Shaped Box now." She then handed an earphone to her. "Listen in."

As the song went into its chorus, Ikuno nodded. "It's definitely a harder sound. I like the lyrics, though. _Forever in debt to your priceless advice..."_ She then quietly hummed to the song. "You should get me a copy of anything you find of this group. I'm hooked." She then smiled.

"Absolutely," Kyouko replied.

Yasuto then asked her from the grill, "How's the transfers going?"

"I'm on the third song," Kyouko replied to him. "This album rocks!"

* * *

Later on, as the gang finished their meals, Zero Two tugged at Hiro's shirt and asked him, "Hey, Darling. Do you wanna go swimming again?"

Hiro was at first unsure. "When it's this dark out?"

"Why not," Zero Two replied as she ran for the water excitedly, her feet kicking up the sand as she ran.

"Screw it," Hiro called out as he took his shirt off and ran for her. "Wait for me, Zero Two!" He then laughed as he ran into the water.

Yasuto and Kyouko looked over before looking at each other. "I'm gonna join them," Kyouko said. "Yasuto, wanna go?" She then gave him a wink to indicate that swimming was far from the only think they were gonna do.

"I see," Yasuto replied as they both got up. "Well, guys, we'll be back in about half an hour."

Zorome turned to them and asked them, curious, "What are you two gonna do?"

"Walk the beach a bit and then swim," Kyouko replied. "We won't be far." She thought to herself, _"I've been meaning to try having sex at a beach."_ The two of them then walked away from the camp. "If you guys need anything or get in any danger, just run this way and you'll find us eventually!" She then pointed in the direction the two were going to take their 'nice relaxing walk' in.

* * *

Later that night, as the gang began to lay out sleeping bags for the team, Yasuto recalled a story about their days on the front lines, specifically a fire that had occurred in a forward operating base that they as damage control personnel had fought. "Now, it's me, Kyouko, and this other pair going down there with two lines. The fire was roaring by then, and as we got to the fire, I radioed back that we needed a third line."

"How hot was it?" Zorome was keenly interested in the story.

"Kyouko told me later that her thermal imaging camera captured a temperature high of 540 Celsius, so pretty high up there," Yasuto explained, flooring Futoshi and Zorome. "We knocked it down, though."

"I can't imagine myself doing that," Futoshi replied in awe. "Klaxosaurs are one thing, but fire? That's a whole different beast."

"Eh," Yasuto shrugged. "Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. Damage control was one of the funnest things me and Kyouko did. Anyway, all four of us hit it, and just as the third pair comes down with the third line, we had basically knocked it all down. They only got to put out hot spots in the machinery rooms, so they missed out on all the fun."

"Damn right they did," Kyouko replied from nearby, to the laughter of Yasuto.

"Anyway," he told Futoshi and Zorome. "Ichigo already knows this, but any fire incidents at Mistilteinn have to be attended by us. That's why we still have our damage control bunker gear and tools, so don't fuck up anything, or else we'll be the ones dealing with it."

* * *

Around midnight, Kyouko had snuck off from camp to snap pictures of the sky and the stars as she sat on a rock. One of her hobbies aside from music was photography, and she used an old film camera she had once taken from a pre-Klaxosaur settlement that she had personally restored herself in her spare time. Film was supplied to her by Dr. Franxx on his personal orders, and some of her pictures were used in APE propaganda, at times to her dismay. As she got ready to take a 1 minute exposure shot of the sky, she heard several voices off in the distance and looked over to her left. "Hm?"

As she was able to determine the voices belonged to Ichigo and Hiro, a light wind blew through her brown hair. "You used to tell me a lot about the stars when we were little." Kyouko smiled as she thought of the younger Hiro.

However, what Hiro said next caused her to drop her camera into the sand in shock just after she took her photo. "Wait, I did?"

"Of course you did," Ichigo assured him. "I might be pretty dumb, but I remember everything you taught me."

 _"Wait a fucking minute,"_ Kyouko thought to herself as she froze. _"Did Hiro... Oh God, please tell me this isn't what I think it is... Did Hiro get his mind wiped when he was younger?! That would explain his decline in ability! But why him?!"_ She then took a few steps back and then covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at her camera. _"Hiro... APE took your abilities away... They killed the boy that named me and my partner... Without you, we would have never learned to realize that there is so much more to life than piloting... The you that APE took from us, he was the one who made me realize I loved Code 085 from the moment we first laid eyes on each other as young children in that Garden."_ Tears then began to fall from her eyes as she realized what had been taken from them, if not all of humanity. _"APE took perhaps our best chance at protecting us..."_ She held her crying in as she began to mourn the loss of the old Hiro.

Suddenly, she then heard the sound of Hiro shouting "Ichigo, look! Shooting stars!"

Immediately, she wiped her tears away and grabbed her camera from the sand before dusting it off to snap a few quick shots of the shooting stars. As she took several pictures, tears still fell from her eyes. Once she was done, she looked up at the sky and said quietly to herself, "This world is so cruel, but it is so beautiful, too."

As she heard Hiro and Ichigo come closer to her, she quickly ran off to a small cave to hide away so they wouldn't see her crying. However, just as she ran in, she heard Ichigo call out, "Kyouko!"

Immediately, she turned around, a few tears still falling down her cheek, concerning both of them as they both ran over to her. "Kyouko, are you okay?" Hiro was concerned deeply.

"I...," she replied as she put her camera down. "I was coming out here to take some pictures, and..." She then sniffled and wiped her eyes. "It just reminded me of Squad 9. The anniversary of our formation as a team is coming up. This is a pretty emotional time for me and Yasuto." While she was partially lying about why she was crying, she was telling the truth about the anniversary. "I guess my emotions just spilled out. We lost a lot of good men and women when we got destroyed."

Ichigo then suddenly hugged Kyouko, who was stunned. "Kyouko, you don't have to hold it in."

"I know," she replied as she returned the hug, knowing that Ichigo was wrong, and that in this case, she did have to hold it in and suffer in silence and lonesomeness. "I know."


	14. Mystery to Me: 14

As Squad 13 fought a particularly tough Klaxosaur, the gang was suddenly engulfed in a blue liquid the being had emanated from an impact. Heliconia, who had impacted the Klaxosaur, took the most. As the others wondered what it was, Miku yelled out, "This shit is gross! What is it?!"

As Heliconia wiped its eyes off, Kyouko said, "This is new. My sensors aren't picking this up as anything but an unknown substance. However, it doesn't appear to be corrosive, so we should be fine."

"You're right," Ikuno replied as Chlorophytum looked over itself. "Regardless, we got a Klaxosaur to kill, so let's get to it."

"Indeed," Kyouko replied. Suddenly, however, she felt something warm hit her back. Immediately, she turned on stealth mode and said to Yasuto, "What the hell was that?!"

"Uh," he replied as he looked up at the cockpit wall. "It's leaking through the ceiling, but the only thing it's damaging is your suit."

"Shit," she replied. "The other girls won't know. Thank God I no longer have to use pistil lock-in." She then paused as they hears a small burning sound. "It's burning my clothes away, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Yasuto replied, laughing as Kyouko also broke out into laughter. "Oh my God, this will be an interesting post-mission brief when we get back. Hold on, I'll radio it out without revealing it." He then grabbed his radio and transmitted, "Heliconia to all Squad 13 units, just focus on the fight. Don't get distracted, and definitely don't ruin your compatibility rates now."

Ichigo, confused as to why he said, asked him, "Yasuto, what's up?"

As Heliconia switched out of stealth mode, Kyouko, who had to stifle a giggle, replied to her, "It's nothing serious. He was just a bit worried you guys got thrown off by the substance, that's all." As they spoke, Zero Two bum-rushed the Klaxosaur with its spear, killing it in one fell swoop and destroying its core with ease. "Awesome work as always, Zero Two!"

"Thank you," Zero Two replied. "Huh? Wait... Darling, is something up?"

"Uhhh," Hiro awkwardly replied as more of Zero Two's suit disappeared before him. "Zero Two, your suit!"

As Futoshi and Zorome yelled at Hiro to stop, Yasuto facepalmed and said to himself and to the others right afterwards, "Oh God, here we go."

"Girls," Kyouko told them through Heliconia as she tried to calm them down. "Don't be alarmed, but we're all gonna need new suits when we get back.

Miku, confused, asked, "Why's that?" She then opened up her cockpit view camera to see what was going on, only to recoil in shock. "Wha-?! WHAT?! MY PARASITE SUIT!"

"Miku, don't pani-" As the other girls all panicked and screamed in embarrassment, minus Zero Two, Kyouko just sighed and shook her head. "Aaaand you all panic anyway. Am I talking to a fucking brick wall or something?!"

Zero Two just laughed in response. "My Darling's already seen me naked, so there's nothing new there for him."

"Same," Kyouko replied as Heliconia and Strelitzia fist-bumped. "This'll be an interesting ride home."

* * *

Indeed, it was an interesting ride home. After everyone had disembarked at the Cerasus Franxx Loading Dock, the girls were all provided with towels for modesty by Nana and Hachi. However, Zero Two curiously refused one, and though Kyouko had accepted a towel, she only used it to wipe some ash from her burnt clothes off, not wearing it otherwise. As the other four stared down the boys, Goro attempted to explain. "You don't understand. We didn't tell you guys because we thought you'd all be distracted during the battle."

Ichigo nodded slightly and replied, "Good point, true, but at the same time, it still doesn't feel ri-"

"I just simply found you too beautiful to look away," Futoshi told Kokoro. "It wasn't out of malice, Kokoro! That came from the heart!"

The girl blushed intensely as Kyouko facepalmed and Yasuto told him, "Dude, really?"

"I'm sure she appreciates the compliment," Kyouko told him. "But is this really the right time for it?"

"What's the big deal?" Zorome was annoyed that the girls were making such a big deal out of the situation. "It's not like anyone even got hurt."

Miku replied somewhat aggressively, "That's not the point!"

"Wait up," Hiro interrupted both of them. "Listen, Zero Two once told me that at times, parasites are better off acting a bit, uh... Perverted, right?"

"In a way, yes," Zero Two replied cheerfully as she nodded, much to the other girls' dismay. "And hey, who's to say it doesn't go both ways?"

Ikuno immediately turned away, blushing intensely as Kyouko sighed. "This is just gonna keep getting worse, is it?" Suddenly, she felt part of the clothing in her chest area degrade away, now fully exposing half of her chest. "Huh? Oh, that happened."

Miku facepalmed in disbelief at how seemingly shameless Kyouko was, muttering to herself, "What even is she?"

* * *

In the showers in the female locker room, the girls talked among themselves about what had happened. Miku felt the most angry about the incident, telling the rest of them, "I can't believe they were ogling our bodies! Hell, I'm sure they did it at the beach, too!"

"That's boys for you," Ichigo replied with annoyance. "And to think, I thought we were doing a good job linking up. This is gonna really screw up squad morale."

Kokoro, feeling though this was being blown out of proportion, replied, "Uh, guys, maybe this is getting a bit out of hand."

"Nonsense, Miku replied to her. "What we need to do is put an end to all this. From now on, we need to stop with our mixed-gender communal lifestyle. We're going independent to the boys!"

As the other girls thought to themselves, Ikuno turned to Kyouko next to her and whispered to her around the wall, "You've been quiet."

"I know," she replied. "I'm just gonna keep my fucking mouth shut because I can tell I'm on her shit list. What you all do is up to you, but try not to drag me in."

Later, as Kyouko opened her locker to get dressed after coming out of the shower with the other girls, she found a package inside. "Huh?"

As she took the package out and opened it, Ichigo looked over in curiosity. "What is it?"

Kyouko then pulled out one of five bras inside. "Holy shit, it's about time! My old bras barely fit me anymore!" After she put the new bra on, she exhaled in relaxation and said, "Ah, this is so nice! I finally have breathing room again! I wonder who did this...?"

* * *

Very soon after, at Mistilteinn, all of the parasites gathered in the front entrance of the mansion they lived in. As Miku laid down a piece of tape between the girls on one side and the boys on another, she noticed that Zero Two was not with them and sighed. _"Ugh... I knew we were gonna have problems with her..."_ She then got up and addressed both groups while straddling the line of tape. "Listen up. Effective immediately, boys will not cross this line into our territory."

Zorome, flabbergasted at the sudden change, replied back as he attempted to cross the line, "Who the hell died and made you the boss?! This is bullshi-"

"I wouldn't cross the line if I were you," Miku scolded him as she stared him down. Ichigo also stared him down, while Kokoro looked on with unease and both Kyouko and Ikuno looked on with a neutral expression. "You'll regret it."

Yasuto looked around, wondering how this would affect his relationship with his own co-pilot and girlfriend. He also wondered how Nana, Hachi, and Dr. Franxx would take the news. _"This is really odd... To have so many parasites go through what APE foolishly calls puberty at once is rare, and especially in this form of expression."_

* * *

Yasuto and Kyouko both spoke to Werner through video chat in Cerasus' nerve center after Nana and Hachi already had about what had happened. "You both know that what APE refers to as 'puberty' isn't exactly the original definition of the word," he told both of them.

"Yeah," Kyouko replied to him. "If we go by the original definition, we're all long past that. If anything, this form would better be described as mental puberty."

"Exactly," Werner replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "How are you two taking it? I know you two dealt with it your own way when it settled in for you guys. If anything, your reactions were so minute that APE could find no reason to intervene."

"It helps when you've known them for so long and have seen them naked so many times," Yasuto replied with a humorous comeback. "Anyway, we're trying to stay as far away from it as possible, but we've been made participants in Miku's little challenge." Yasuto then covertly pulled out a flash drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer. He then used the mouse pad to select the RUN option for the flash drive.

"Are you encrypting us?" Werner knew exactly what he was doing.

"Of course," he replied. "Now APE can't hear us. Anyway, based on my own observations of Miku and Zorome, I can conclude that the two share a deep bond, even if they don't show it all the time. If certain relations were allowed, I would honestly lock them in a room with some birth control pills, a few instruments of pleasure, and some reading material, and, pardon my language, but tell them to fuck the tension between them out of each other and then some. I'm sure the room's contents would be destroyed by the time they were finished, but it would resolve a lot." He then made a motion with his hand similar to slashing with a knife. "I swear, the sexual tension between them is so thick I could cut it with a damn knife."

* * *

About an hour later, the girls gathered in their bedroom, Miku gloating about how mad the boys had gotten. "They were soooo piiiissed," Miku told them all, brimming with confidence. "Let me tell you, we are going to win this shit!"

Ichigo then looked out the window and noticed Hiro and Zero Two outside, blatantly breaking the rules Miku had set forth by sitting together. Ikuno and Kyouko looked outside as well. As Miku looked over as well, she got annoyed and groaned. Ikuno really did not care, and Ichigo was more concerned about her own feelings for Hiro. Kyouko just brushed it off and returned to reading Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Later on, as the girls all walked down the stairs together, Miku told the group, "We gotta find a way to reign her in."

"Just let her be," Kyouko tried telling her in response. "She isn't hurting u-"

Suddenly, the front door flung open, stopping the girls in their tracks as Zorome, Futoshi, and Goro all marched in, towels around their waists as they dried off. "What a fun dip in the lake," Zorome replied as the three all walked up the stairs, knowing full well what they were doing to piss Miku off.

"I suggested making exceptions for the bath and dining rooms," Kyouko told them in response. "Thinking about applying them now, Miku?"


	15. The Colour and the Shape: 15

"I told you," Kyouko told Miku as they all walked downstairs to the first floor of Mistilteinn. "Make the dining area a neutral zone."

"It's too late now," Miku replied. "Anyway, I've never really come down here a lot." As she, Ichigo, Ikuno, and Kyouko rounded a corner, they came across two rooms. The odd thing was, both rooms had been taped off for seemingly no reason. "Taped off?"

"Yeah," Ichigo remarked. "That's odd."

"These must have been rooms used by whichever incarnation of Squad 13 came before us," Kyouko noted to the group. "But I'm confused as to why they made them off-limits." She then inspected the door of one of the rooms, seeing if anything odd or suspicious was on it. _"Even I'm stumped. Surely they didn't do something that would warrant such drastic measures."_

Ichigo then pondered to the group, "How long will this fight go on?"

"To be honest," Ikuno then oddly noted to the group, which raised the ears of Kyouko. "I wouldn't mind staying like this forever." Something about the way she said it just seemed to heighten Kyouko's suspicions for whatever reason. Before she could ask her anything, however, Ikuno yelped and jumped forward to the surprise of everyone around her.

"I smell a secret," whispered Zero Two to Ikuno as they saw the reason for Ikuno's fright.

"That reminds me," Miku asked Zero Two rather sternly. "We gotta talk to you, now."

"While you girls talk to her," Kyouko said to them as she turned around and walked away. "I'll go to the utility shed. I need to grab something for the flower nursery."

"Catch you later," Zero Two uncharacteristically called out to her in a rather friendly tone.

 _"If anything,"_ she thought to herself as she rounded the corner. _"I just needed an excuse to get away from them."_

* * *

At the utility shed, Kyouko performed a check of her Damage Control gear with a clipboard. As she looked over the thick coat that came with it, Kokoro walked in, surprising her. As she turned around, she told her, "Miku wants us to meet with Zero Two."

"I know," Kyouko replied. "And they know I'm out here." She then checked off several boxes on her clipboard. "You know, you don't have to always go with the crowd, Kokoro. I can tell you're pretty uncomfortable with this stupid conflict. If you don't wanna go, you can stay here with me. I'll say you were helping me."

Kokoro then closed her eyes and sighed, realizing Kyouko was 100% right. "You're right, I am. I mean, sure, the boys did something stupid, but this doesn't warrant a war. I'm sure Nana and Hachi will say it eventually if they have to step in, but if we got dispatched at this very moment to fight a Klaxosaur, we'd be..." She then became hesitant to finish her sentence, realizing what she was implying. "Yeah... We'd be killed. We're not ready at all."

Kyouko then chuckled. "It's about fucking time someone got the memo. Look, I like Miku, but she needs to chill." She then began inspecting her boots, slipping them on and pulling them up. "Kokoro, do me a favor and look over my hip boots, okay?"

"Sure," Kokoro replied as Kyouko bent her legs one at a time so she could see all around them. "I don't see any holes or marks."

"Good," she replied as she checked off more boxes on the clipboard. "And with that, my check is complete." As she rolled her boots down, she had an idea. "Hey, wanna try my gear on? I saw how interested you looked."

Kokoro shrugged. "I mean, I don't know if I could handle fires like you and your partner, but-"

"It'll be fun," Kyouko assured her as she handed her her gear. "I'll help you get it on." As Kokoro slowly slipped on the boots first, she also began to put on the heavy long coat, zipping and buckling it up with ease. "I just pull these rubber flaps on the boots up, right?"

"Exactly," Kyouko replied as she also pulled out the heavy air pack and handed it to Kokoro. "My mask should fit you. I gotta say, you look good in that tan and orange coat."

"Wow," Kokoro replied as she put on the air pack. "This isn't as heavy as it looks. I just pull these straps down and hook in this waist strap, right?"

"Yep," the older pilot replied, feeling like a mother teaching her child something new to an extent. "The weight is distributed across the body, making it feel a lot less heavy. Make sure your hair goes under your coat." She then helped her put the mask on. "Okay, now, this mask has a giant hole where the mouth is where the regulator goes." As she held up the regulator, she continued her explanation. "I'll turn the pack on for you. Once it's on, when you're ready, put this regulator in, and turn it so the red knob is to the side. That red knob is your purge valve. Keep it off purge unless you want to waste air." She then walked around back of her and turned her air pack on, resulting in it producing several short beeps. "Those beeps means the PASS alarm is on. The PASS alarm triggers if you stand still for half a minute, or manually with the push of the giant red button where the air gauge is. To stop it from beeping, press the yellow button twice or shake around a bit."

"It's a lot to take in," Kokoro noted as she put on gloves next.

"I got an even better idea," Kyouko replied as she went to grab Yasuto's gear. "Yasuto's gear's a bit big on me, but we have the same mask size. I can take you through a little maze APE Security's Fire Suppression staff use in Cerasus. Take the mask off and follow me." As she finished putting on Yasuto's gear and Kokoro took the mask off, clipping it to the regulator and letting it hand from the side, the two of them walked out of the utility shed.

"A maze? What for?" Kokoro was curious as she put on Kyouko's helmet and Kyouko put on Yasuto's.

"It's a cramped one," she explained to her. "You're supposed to get down and crawl your way through it. It's also dark. In short, it's done to simulate crawling through a fire."

As they walked past the flower nursery, a dumbfounded Mitsuru saw them. "Kokoro? Kyouko?"

"Oh, hey," Kokoro replied with a slight blush. "Kyouko's gonna take me to a training maze for a bit. We'll be fine."

Mitsuru looked them both over and sighed. "Fine. Just don't get hurt."

* * *

About 20 minutes later, Kokoro and Kyouko both stood at the start of the wooden maze, a large labyrinth of tight corners, crawlspaces, and obstacles in a dark room. They were the only people in the room, as any firefighters with APE were off elsewhere. As Kokoro and Kyouko put their masks and helmets on, Kyouko said to her, "Now, I'm gonna flick this light switch on the side, only this isn't a light switch. This goes to a fog machine that fills the entire maze with smoke. This isn't toxic like actual smoke, but it's still a good way to reduce visibility further." She then flicked the aforementioned switch.

Kokoro was a bit worried, but was less so with the older parasite by her side. "How long do we wait?"

"Not long," Kyouko replied as she turned her pack on. "Turn your pack on now." Kokoro nodded and reached around to turn her pack on as Kyouko pointed out to her in the darkness the maze. "We got parts simulating a first-floor bailout, a confined space, hanging electrical wires, a collapsing floor, and so on here. All Adults who are firefighters and all Children who are Damage Controlmen have to go through this course." She then bent down towards a half-door that led to the course. "When I open this door, we need to mask up immediately before we go in. Once we're in, you gotta stick with me, okay?"

"Yeah," Kokoro replied. "I'm ready."

"Opening the door," Kyouko declared as she opened the half-door, letting out the fake smoke inside. "Mask up, Kokoro!" She and her then both took their helmets off to put their masks on. Once they were done and began breathing pack air, the two crawled in, Kyouko going in first.

Kokoro found herself in a confined space to start, being forced down on her stomach in a cramped wooden tunnel painted black with zero visibility. She had to crawl her way through several feet before she got to an opening above her. After Kyouko crawled up and out, Kokoro followed suit, awkwardly pushing herself up and out of the tunnel, only to find herself in another tunnel, albeit slightly taller and allowing her to crawl on her knees. "You still ahead of me?"

"Yeah," Kyouko replied back to her. Due to their masks, they had to yell to each other despite being in close proximity of each other. "This tunnel leads to stairs! I'm gonna show you how to go down stairs!" Once the two crawled to the top of the stairs, Kyouko turned herself around and faced downwards towards the floor. "You need to sound each step with a tool before you step down, or in this case, your feet! Don't ever go up or down stairs without sounding them! If you do, you could fall through a hole in the stairs!" Kyouko crawled down the stairs, followed by Kokoro, into another tunnel that was almost tall enough for them both to stand up crouched down. However, before them was a maze of old disconnected electrical wires.

"How do we get through that?" Kokoro was now worried she was gonna get tangled.

"Get down low," Kyouko explained. "Push your back up against the corner of the floor and the wall, and use your feet and arms to swim through the hallway!" She then demonstrated just that, using her hands and arms to push wires away from her in the thick smoke. Kokoro got the idea immediately, and followed suit. Soon, both were at their next obstacle, a sharp corner that led to another set of stairs up. "This is the fun part!" Kyouko remained vague to her to keep her on her feet.

Once they were both up the steps, Kyouko went forward in a seemingly normal smoke-filled hallway. However, a few steps in, the floor gave way, and she disappeared from sight. Kokoro, thinking something had gone wrong, screamed, "Oh my God! Kyouko-oneesama!"

"Mayday Mayday Mayday," Kyouko let out. "I am Damage Controlman Code 099 of Plantation 13, Cerasus! I fell from the second floor to the first in a floor collapse! I have about three-quarters of a tank of air left! I have no tools with me at this time! I am requesting assistance in evacuating from the structure!" She then paused for a few seconds. "Kokoro, I'm fine! That was a simulated floor collapse! You're gonna do the same thing I just did, okay?"

The floor before her then lowered back down, revealing it was basically a see-saw. "Thank God! You had me worried there for a sec!" Kokoro then crawled out onto the floor, and sure enough, after a few steps, it tipped and sent her sliding into what was essentially a ball-pit with cushions. "Mayday Mayday Mayday! I'm Code 556 of Plantation 13, Cerasus! I've fallen from the second floor to the first! I have, uh... I have about two-thirds I think of a tank of air left! I have no tools or whatever! I need help getting out of here!" Kokoro then got up and crawled out of the ball pit into another tunnel, where Kyouko was waiting for her.

"Excellent job calling the Mayday," Kyouko complimented her with a pat on the shoulder. "Follow me! This is just like the tunnel at the start, but it's the opposite!" Sure enough, at the end was a hole down to another tunnel below. The two managed to crawl their way into the tunnel below, and easily navigated it together. At the end was a small but large enough room where they could both sit up on their knees. Once they got there, Kyouko instructed her, "Here's one of the most dangerous things you could ever do in this line of work: A full escape! This is where you take your air pack off while staying on air and push yourself through! This is done because you may have to go through somewhere where you cannot physically fit wearing an air pack! This can only be done for emergencies, and if you have to do this, you need to call a Mayday if you haven't already, which you did!"

"Got it," Kokoro replied as Kyouko demonstrated the full escape procedure to her. Once she was partway through the tunnel, Kokoro copied her and put her air pack forward of her to crawl through the tunnel, the tightest of them all. Once they were both out, they put their air packs back on their backs and tightened the straps. Now before them was a structure with two small columns and three wide open spaces to simulate a wall breach.

"Here, we're gonna simulate how to go through a wall breach!" Kyouko then sat backwards and reached her right hand through the breach in the wall. "Just like with the wires, you need to use your feet and hands to swim through!" She then pushed herself through as Kokoro readied herself to do the same, which she did with ease due to her slightly smaller figure. After that was another tight corner leading down a long hallway. Once they reached the end, they found a window leading to the start of the course. "Hold on a sec," Kyouko told Kokoro as she reached up and opened the window from a latch. "Okay, now, we're gonna simulate a first-floor bailout! You're gonna climb up, hook your one leg over the windowsill on the other side, and use your one hand on the same side to hold yourself in place for a little bit! Then, you just roll out onto the ground!" She then demonstrated to Kokoro with ease.

"I got this," Kokoro told herself as she copied Kyouko, crawling up and over the windowsill and doing exactly as she told. Within seconds, she was safely out of the course and back at the start of it. Once she was out, she stood up and took her mask and helmet off, sweat pouring down her face and her hair frazzled. She took several deep breaths as she regained her composure. "Holy shit, that's tiring as hell!"

"It still is," Kyouko replied as she took her mask and helmet off. "Even after about three years of doing it." She then patted Kokoro on the back. "You were awesome in here, Kokoro!"

The younger girl blushed slightly as she replied, "Thank you, Kyouko-oneesama."

The response threw Kyouko off, as she replied in shock, "Ehh? Oneesama?!" She thought to herself, _"Am I really that revered by the other pistils in Squad 13?! Holy shit, slow down a bit, Kokoro!"_

"Oh," Kokoro replied, thinking she did something wrong. "I, uhh..."

"It's fine," Kyouko hurriedly reassured her as she flicked the smoke machine off and turned the lights on, revealing the room in full. "It's fine. I was just a bit surprised. I mean... I'm not used to being held in such high regard by other pilots."

"Well," Kokoro replied as she wiped sweat off her forehead. "You are by us. Same with your partner, Yasuto-oniisama." She and Kyouko then shared a laugh together, their bond strengthened by the events of today.

* * *

An hour later, the two made their way back to the utility shed, still tired out, but not covered in sweat, and still lugging their gear around. They had refilled each of their air bottles before coming back. As they took their gear off, Miku caught up to them. As she ran up to them, Kokoro asked her, "Miku, what's up?"

"Where the hell were you guys?!" Miku was not happy to see they had missed their meeting with Zero Two. "You missed the meeting!"

Kyouko sighed in annoyance. "I showed her around a training course the Children Damage Controlmen and Adult Firefighters go through. What did you discuss with Zero Two?"

"She's on our side now," Miku assured them. "All we needed to do was sit her down. It was a lot easier than I thought." She then shrugged. "Maybe she isn't half-bad."

"Easier than you thought, huh?" Kyouko knew something was up, and thought to herself, _"Zero Two is planning something, and if it's a prank of some kind, I want in."_

* * *

As Zero Two, Yasuto, and Kyouko walked up to the door to the bathing area, they quietly discussed a plan among themselves. "Once this flyer is off the doors," Zero Two told them as she ripped the "NO BOYS ALLOWED" sign off the door. "The plan is going into action. Yasuto, tell the boys that the girls let them use the bathing and changing area for a day. Kyouko, tell the girls you can't join them for their bath, and then stay in the changing area to pretend to fix a broken light."

Yasuto devilishly smiled and gave a small chuckle. "This is gonna be awesome." He and Kyouko then save a silent hi-five to each other and then to Zero Two.

* * *

As the boys walked into the changing area of the baths, they found Kyouko fixing a broken lightbulb from a step ladder with a tool bag below her feet on the floor, as planned. Zorome, surprised to see her, asked her, "Hey, uh, Kyouko..."

"I know," she replied as part of the prank. "It's fine. I've seen my partner fully undressed many times. Anyway, can one of you hand me a screwdriver from the tool bag?"

"Sure," Futoshi replied, grabbing one from the side and handing it to Kyouko. "Are you really okay with this?"

"Yeah," she replied. "We figured we'd let the boys bathe here for a day. Yasuto's out in the garden fixing something, so he'll join you guys later."

"That works," Goro replied as he began to get undressed with the rest of the guys.

 _"Once they open that door,"_ Kyouko thought to herself. _"All hell will break loose."_

"I bet that soon," Zorome told the gang, now all fully undressed with towels around their necks, as he walked to the door to the baths themselves. "The girls will throw in the towel."

 _"You're gonna regret saying that,"_ Kyouko thought to herself again, now barely able to contain her laughter as she climbed down from the step ladder and awaited the fireworks. Sure enough, as soon as Zorome slid open the door, the entire gang was met with all the girls, fully nude, in the baths, all taken by surprise and shock.

As the initial surprise turned to anger on the girls' part, Kyouko could no longer hold her laughter and let out a loud cackle of laughter. Miku shouted to the boys, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Goro tried and utterly failed to defuse the tension with, "Girls, hold on, it's not what it-!" He was then interrupted by the girls tossing pots, pans, and towels at the boys as they yelled at them to leave. Kokoro noticed Kyouko behind them and gasped, freezing in place as she tried to piece together what was going on.

Meanwhile, Kyouko had continued her laughter as Hiro turned around and saw that Zero Two had begun stealing all their clothes and placing it in a bin. "Zero Two! Our clothes!"

"Come and get 'em, Darling," Zero Two playfully replied as she dashed out of the room at full speed, Hiro chasing after her without ever bothering to wrap anything around himself. "Catch me if you can!"

As the two ran out of the room, Kyouko cheered her on, telling her, "Run, Zero Two, run!" She then turned to the rest of the boys, a smug look on her face as Yasuto emerged from a closed closet in the changing room. "So, what did you think? You guys just got pranked!"

"You guys and Zero Two set us up," Zorome angrily yelled as he dodged another pot. "What the hell?!"

"That's not all," Yasuto comically pointed out. "Zero Two took your clothes, too. I'm kinda ashamed you guys never stopped to think maybe this was just too good to be true."

Kyouko then walked out into the baths through the crossfire, surprising the girls and making them all cease their throwing. "Okay, okay, okay, enough of the throwing shit around, boys and girls."

Miku asked her in a harsh tone, "What the hell is going on?!"

"This pointless boys versus girls bullshit needs to end **now** ," Kyouko told both sides as Yasuto stepped out as well and her tone shifted to something far more serious. "When all the fun and laughs from this prank subsides, it's an unfortunate fact that if we got attacked right now, we'd be completely unprepared. There's no way in fucking hell any of you would be able to respond in a proper capacity as pilots! I don't know why Nana and Hachi haven't intervened just yet, but me, Zero Two, and Yasuto agreed that we needed to."

Yasuto then spoke to the groups. "Infighting like this gets pilots killed. Me and my partner know this because we've seen it. Far too many of your brothers and sisters in the Franxx piloting service die in the line of duty because of a lack of communication and cooperation."

They all then heard a voice from behind them in the changing room. "Everyone, to the foyer, now!" The shrill voice belonged to Nana, indicating she and Hachi were now stepping in.

"I suggest you listen to her," Kyouko told everyone with a stern tone. "Since Zero Two took your clothes, wear your pajamas."


	16. Stadium Arcadium: 16

After a talking-to from Nana and Hachi, which Kyouko and Yasuto were exempted from, the boys and the girls in Squad 13 had been sent to their rooms separately. Zero Two and Kyouko giggled to each other on one of the top bunks while the other girls angrily stared at them, now realizing they were the ones at fault. Zero Two addresses the rather annoyed crowd, telling them all, "Ah, that was so much fun! Let me tell you, it was so rebellious!"

Ichigo demanded of her, "Are you serious?! Zero Two, I demand to know why!" She was bitter that she had been the fault behind the yelling she had received from Nana and Hachi.

"Well," Zero Two explained to her and the others as she jumped down to the floor. "Your little game was stupid, so I figured that was the best way to end it. Anyway, let me leave you all with one last bit of advice: Don't half-ass things, or you'll just become an Adult." As she approached the door, she stopped dead in her tracks, and her tone of voice drastically changed. "Also, I'd recommend you don't keep secrets and be so mistrusting of each other, because you're all gonna die sooner or later."

Kyouko, surprised that she had gotten so dark so fast, told Zero Two, "Well, I wouldn't put it that wa-" Zero Two ignored her and walked out, closing the door behind her. She just shook her head and buried her face in her right hand. "Damn it."

Kokoro asked the older girl, "Is that true? Are we really going to die soon?"

Kyouko could not bear to tell her the full truth. "Well, you know the attrition rate among us is high because of the risks. However, Zero Two isn't necessarily right about all pilots dying early. If you fight safely, recognize your warning signs, and use some common sense, you can live a while." It hurt to not tell her the full truth, which included stuff like Protocol 32. "It's just... Zero Two was on the front lines for a long time. She wasn't attached to a specific Plantation for defense, so all she saw was just constant fighting and rather high mortality rates. I can attest from personal experience that being on the active front lines isn't the best for your mental health. At least me and Yasuto were rotated in and out between active combat and Plantation Defense to give us a breather. Zero Two wasn't, and that colored a lot of her perceptions about the world and people around her. That, and the fact that people looked down on her for those horns of her's, well... I'm not surprised one bit she turned out the way she did."

"That sounds about right," Ichigo noted, agreeing with her assessment. "I would probably be just as cynical in her shoes."

Kokoro, looking at the book she had hidden from the others, then stood up and addressed the group, a rarity for her. "Hey, you know what? This can't go on! If we keep fighting, we won't be able to battle. We can't pilot Franxx units alone, but that isn't the only thing. Look, I know the boys have their perverted thoughts and whatnot, but are we any better? No, absolutely not! We may be different from boys, but that doesn't mean we can't get along with them. That other thing... When boys and girls get together, that's how things are born... I think..." Kyouko's eyes widened as she realized what Kokoro was saying, so she shot her a look that told her to not go any further on the birth and reproduction subject. Kokoro realized she was looking at her and nodded. "Anyway... We can't keep this up. Nana was right. We are in no condition to sortie, and if something were to happen, Zero Two's prediction... It might come true."

"It's unusual for you to be so assertive," Ikuno noted. "But I like it. You're right, too. We can't be the ones complaining all the time."

Miku, angered at the response, replied to her, "Are you suggesting we forgive them?! Fine, suit yourselves!"

As she climbed down from her bunk, ready to leave, Kyouko told her, "Miku, don't leave. Miku, come o-" She then flung the door open and stormed off, trying to sort her own thoughts out. "MIKU!"

* * *

As the boys walked through the living room of the mansion, they talked among themselves of their next plan. They had agreed to formally apologize to the girls for their past behavior, and to make general amends. Yasuto instructed, "Okay, so, Goro, you'll start off first with the apologies, got it?"

"Of course," he replied. "Now, Futoshi, you'll probably be ne-" Suddenly, they all stopped in their tracks when they saw that the girls had joined them, all of them with worried facial expressions. "Huh? Ichigo?"

"It's an emergency," Ichigo replied as the boys noticed Miku was not with them. "Miku ran off, and we can't find her!"

"God damn it," Yasuto replied to himself as he shook his head. "I knew this would happen."

Hiro then readied up both group, rallying them with, "Everyone, split up and search for her! Let's go!"

* * *

In one of the old dorm rooms, which had its tape ripped off by Miku, the aforementioned girl sat in the back, thinking to herself. She muttered as she heard the squad call out to her, "Who cares about them?! They've made up already! I don't need them anyway!" She then sighed and looked around the empty room. "Come to think of it, anyway, it looks like whichever squad was here before us just got up and left everything here." She then stood up and approached a study desk with a picture of the old Squad 13 on it. "So, these were the pilots of Squad 13 Mark II, huh? Not a bad looking group." She then set the picture down and noticed two journals, one red and one blue, plus a vase with dead lilacs in it. The red journal read out, "Girls' Journal, S13MII," while the blue one read out, "Boys' Journal, S13MII." On a hunch, she opened up the red journal to the last page, flipping back through empty pages to find the last page with an entry.

 _March 6, 2067, Sunday_

 _We have an important mission tomorrow early in the morning, but as the leader of the pistils, I don't think we're exactly ready. February was a tough month for us, with Codes 325 and 219 being KIA in early February and being replaced so soon with new pilots, and of course this past week was Hell with the fighting between 300 and 169. Even my own partner is becoming less trusting of me due to the fighting. The Adults think that 300 and 169 are going through Puberty. We already had that incident on the 5th where 169 and 300 began fistfighting, and I fear what will happen if they fight while we are in combat. God help us all tomorrow._

 _Code 160_

"Holy shit," Miku said to herself as she began to put the pieces together. "But Code Numbers 325, 169, and 160 were taken by brand new Children in the Garden just before we graduated. This entry was only a month before we got assigned here. Don't tell me... Oh my God..." She then dropped the book on the floor and crumpled to her knees, crying as the realization hit her: Squad 13 Mark II had been completely wiped out on March 7, 2067, just a month before Squad 13 Mark III had moved in. As a result, the code numbers of the squad got reused for new pilots-in-training.

After a minute, Miku heard a knock on the door. On the other end was Yasuto's voice, who explained to her, "Miku, if you're in here, get away from the door! We're gonna fore it open!" On the other side, Yasuto held a halligan bar while Kyouko held an axe, both of which had been grabbed from the tool shed. Yasuto then drove the adze end in between the door jamb and the door, then forced the bar down to damage the lock. Yasuto then told Hiro, "Get me that wooden wedge on the ground." Hiro then grabbed a small wooden door wedge and handed it to him, which he shoved into the gap he made to hold it open. Yasuto then shoved the fork end in, and instructed Kyouko, "Okay, hit!" Kyouko then hit the flat adze end with the flat end of her axe. "Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit!" After six hits, the door was opened, and the squad made their way in.

Miku was sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball with her legs. Zorome ran to her and asked, "Miku! Miku! Are you alright?!" Kokoro joined him to comfort Miku.

"The journal," Miku told him as she pointed to the red journal. "I read the journal."

"So," Zero Two told to Miku as she walked in from behind. "You found out what happened, huh?"

Kyouko gasped as the realization hit her. "Now... Now I remember... They all got killed in a mission on March 7th of this year. Me and Yasuto got sent here for a day soon after as part of rotations the active-duty parasites did to defend Cerasus until you guys graduated from the Garden to fill the gap. They died because two of their parasites had gotten into an argument during the mission, and in the course of that, they got distracted and killed."

"Just like we're all doing now," Ichigo depressingly noted.

* * *

The next day, the squad gathered in the courtyard early in the morning, led by Ichigo, all dressed in their formal uniforms. As they all stood at attention, Ichigo stood before them and addressed them with, "Everyone, today, this morning, we shall hold a memorial service for our predecessors in Squad 13 Mark II. Already, we have renovated their room, and a new door is on order. Even so, we have one last task to honor their memory. Goro and Yasuto have volunteered to present and fold the flag of APE, while Kyouko shall play us a memorial song she learned from her explorations that humanity has used in the past to honor its war dead."

Goro, carrying the folded-up APE flag, and Yasuto then walked up to the front and unfolded the flag, holding it opposite of each other over the ground. Kyouko also stepped forward, holding a bugle she had found and salvaged in the past from ruins. "Now, this song was used by the military of the United States of America many decades ago, before the Klaxosaurs, before APE, before any of this. Its melody is haunting, and it serves its role as a memorial song very well. It is for this purpose that among pilots, its unofficial use in memorial services has grown ever since I recovered the song. As warriors of the United States many years ago gave their lives for their country, these warriors of today give their lives for humanity, and we shall honor them with this song, simply entitled Taps."

"Squad 13," commanded Ichigo with a yell. "Present, Arms!" Kyouko then took a deep breath, and began playing the song, its haunting and melancholic melody tugging at the heart strings of all in Squad 13. Even Zero Two began to shed tears as a result, closing her eyes as she tried to hold it in.

Once the song was done, Kyouko put her bugle to her side and joined in the salute as Goro and Yasuto began to summarily fold the flag of APE into a triangle. Once it was folded, Goro placed the flag onto a small table containing the same flower vase from the old dorm room, albeit with fresh lilacs placed in by Mitsuru, between him and Ichigo and joined in the salute, all members of the squad facing the table, which was used in place of a coffin or other memorial marker for the ceremony. "Squad 13, Order, Arms!" The squad then broke their salutes. "Squad 13, At Ease!"


	17. Let It Be: 17

Several days after the memorial service, a more joyous occasion began for the pilots of Squad 13: Appreciation Day. Appreciation Day was the name of the day that pilots could receive presents from APE themselves in congratulations for their hard work. Even as their admiration for Papa turned into a strong dislike for him, Kyouko and Yasuto still enjoyed this one day in the year, normally asking for and receiving either special medical or fire-rescue/damage control equipment or computer equipment. As the entirety of the squad excitedly picked up their presents, Ikuno found the last two sets, both marked for the two. "Kyouko, Yasuto, your presents are ready!" Both of their presents were in two duffel bags, wrapped up neatly in colorful red wrapping paper with flame markings on the side.

"Alright," Yasuto excitedly said as the two ripped open the wrapping paper and opened the duffel bags. "This is excellent! This gear is better than we've ever been issued from our damage control days!"

Zorome climbed over discarded wrapping paper to see the gifts, asking both of them, "Hey, you two. What did you guys ask Papa for?"

"We asked for new fire gear," Kyouko explained to him. "Our current sets from our damage controlmen days were hand-me-downs and are like 7 years old now. This gear is brand new, and is better looking, too." She then pulled out the helmet from her gear, which was black and had a custom shield with her Code number on it, 099. "Our old helmets are plastic. These ones are traditional leather, a rarity in today's world, and much heavier. Try it on." She then handed it to a curious Zorome.

As he put it on, he clipped in the chin strap and commented, "Holy crap, you're not kidding. This thing is super heavy!"

As Yasuto put his gear on, first by pulling his hip boots up and then by zipping his coat up, he gave a thumbs-up and told the group as a whole, "If anything goes wrong fire-wise here, we'll be ready." As he then put his air pack on, he tightened the straps and grabbed his helmet. Now that he was fully geared up, he turned to Hiro and Zero Two and asked them, "So, Hiro, what did you get?"

"I got a guide on birds," Hiro explained as he showed the group the book he received. "I've always had an interest in zoology, mostly ornithology, so it only made sense."

* * *

Later on, Goro and Yasuto sat in the boys' bunk room together, talking about the day as Hiro walked in. Yasuto turned to him and grinned, jokingly remarking, "Hey there, lover boy."

"Let me guess," Hiro replied back, annoyed. "One of you two were watching me and Zero Two when I gave her the mirror?"

"I was," Goro replied, raising his hand. "You know, I never knew Zero Two was that affectionate with you."

As Hiro walked over to his bunk, he noticed a familiar object in Goro's hand. "Hey, isn't that Ichigo's hair clip?"

"It's the same type," Goro explained as he showed it to him. "But I never ended up giving it to her. You kinda beat me to the punch with that." As Hiro reacted with surprise, Goro further told him, "You know, I once didn't get that whole 'love' thing you said to me, but after today, I think I do. You know how Ichigo has always looked up to you?"

"Yeah," Hiro replied, knowing what seemed to be obvious as he sat down on his bed. "Why?"

Yasuto decided to get right to the point, and spoke in Goro's place. "Hiro, me and Goro think Ichigo loves you like Zero Two does." He then turned to Goro, who was slightly peeved with how right to-the-point he had been. "Sorry about that."

"Right," Goro nodded. "Like I was saying, I can see clearly that she feels that way. On another note, seeing how you feel about Zero Two awakened something within me." He then paused and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to express what he wanted. "I think I love Ichigo that way. Let me tell you, it feels good to get that off my chest finally, Hiro." Hiro nodded in agreement, relating to him.

"Atta boy," Yasuto patted him on the shoulder with. "See? I told you, getting it off your chest isn't so bad, right?" He then stood up from beside Goro. "Well, I gotta go do one last check of the perimeter tonight. I'll be back in like an hour or an hour and a half." As he walked out, the other two boys waved him goodbye. In reality, his 'perimeter check' that night was really just an excuse to get out of the mansion and meet Kyouko in a secluded area of Mistilteinn for sex.

* * *

Indeed, about an hour later, the two parasites finished their lovemaking session, which had gotten somewhat dirty due to the two of them choosing an area underneath a tree and beginning as it started to downpour. Their pajamas and their outdoor coats were laying down beside the trunk of the tree, drenched from the rain despite the cover of the branches. As the two stood up, Yasuto helping his partner up by lifting her and gently holding her against him, they looked down at each other and realized there were dirt marks from the ground on their bodies, and the rain was not doing much to clean it off. Kyouko gave him a kiss and then told him, "You know, we could go clean off in the small lake nearby." She then grinned as she reached down his body. "Maybe go for another round. We got time."

"I was gonna suggest the same thing," Yasuto replied with a seductive grin. "We haven't done this in a full week and a half. Let's make up for time lost, shall we?" He took her by the hand and led her to the shore of the small lake, the section of which they were in jutted out a bit to create an area they could jump into. "Well, come on, let's jump in." He then dove into the water, quickly followed by Kyouko.

As the two embraced in the water and emerged, they kissed passionately. Even though they had been doing such for four and a half years, every time they came together physically still felt the same as it had when they were younger. As they split, Kyouko told him, "A second round is guaranteed at this point."

Then, the two of them heard a noise from nearby and halted. Yasuto feared they had been caught, and as his heart raced, he drew Kyouko in as tight as he could to his body, determined to protect her if he had to. As the two scanned the forest around them, they looked for the cause of the noise. Then, the cause presented itself when Zero Two walked out and saw them. "Ehhh? The transfers?"

Kyouko, frozen in fear, stammered out, "Ze- Zero Two!"

Zero Two laughed as she saw that the two pilots were completely naked in the water. "Well, looks like I caught you two in a predicament. Tell me, what would a boy and a girl who are very clearly affectionate for each other when they're not piloting be doing out here naked, kissing each other and embracing?"

Kyouko, realizing Zero Two knew exactly what they had been doing, demanded of her, "Listen to us, and you better listen fucking good. You are to never tell a soul about what we do in the privacy of the areas here that aren't covered by cameras!"

"Why would I?" Zero Two smugly looked the two over. "I wouldn't let APE get in the way of such a loving couple, especially when you two are perhaps the best pilots they have that aren't of the Nines. Besides, you two give me ideas I could use with my own Darling one day."

"Absolutely not," Yasuto immediately replied somewhat harshly in a serious tone. "Even though we have Dr. Franxx covering our asses and we know where to hide away from the eyes of APE, we still run a massive risk having sex. You cannot afford to suddenly drag a clueless stamen who has no idea what he's getting himself involved in and has less connections and know-how into this. If you're not careful, you could end up like some of the parasites we worked o-"

Kyouko looked to him and interrupted him with, "No, please, don't say that. You know how I feel about what we did back then." She clearly was disturbed by what he had brought up.

"Right," Yasuto replied, feeling bad now. "I'm sorry, dear. I shouldn't have said that."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Zero Two became mischievous, not aware fully of how disturbed Kyouko and Yasuto were by the "secret" the latter had almost accidentally let out. "Come on, tell me."

Kyouko sighed, shaking her head. "Well, the cat's outta the bag, I guess. Zero Two, you know about sex, right? You know what it's for?"

"Yeah," Zero Two replied. "I'm not uneducated like the rest of the Children here."

"Well," Yasuto continued from where his partner left off. "When we interned with the Ministry of Health and Bodily Peace, we participated in procedures for parasites who violated the prohibition, and on those who became pregnant. We involuntarily terminated pregnancies if they were less than two months along. If not, we would lock up the pistils and have them give birth. Their babies would then be taken away and raised in the Garden as extra parasites, and like the father of the child, the mother would be given a Class F amnesiac wipe."

Kyouko then took over, adding a rather emotional part of the story. "We... We had no idea, but we were ripping children away from their parents and forcing them to forget they even existed. APE had us rip families apart. When we came to realize how in the wrong we were... We... I... I almost lost it." She then buried her face in Yasuto's shoulder, trying to hide her tears. "To this day, I don't know if I can ever forgive myself."

Zero Two was clearly saddened by the story, but not shocked. "I'm sad, but I'm not surprised. That's right up their alley. It's stories like that that make me sometimes happy that I can't have children, even with my Darling."

"Wait a fucking minute," Yasuto asked her as he delved into what she had just told them. "You can't what?"

"I can't have kids," Zero Two repeated herself. "It's that simple."

"Who told you that?" Yasuto and Kyouko were both clearly confused.

"APE did," Zero Two further explained. "They ran tests and told me I was infertile."

The two parasites looked at each other for a few seconds, and then back to Zero Two. "Hey, uh," Yasuto explained to her. "You may be surprised to hear this, or not, but there's a good chance APE just straight up lied to you. We've looked at CAT and MRI scans of your body from when you were younger, Zero Two, and everything down there from your vagina to your ovaries looks perfectly normal, or at least it did when you were like 12."

"Not only that," Kyouko mentioned as well. "But I'm pretty sure we would have been told if you were infertile when we were informed of your medical records back then."

Zero Two paused as she took their words to heart and analyzed them in her head. As she stood, she clearly had a mix of emotions, ranging from denial to anger to joy. "I... What... No..." As she felt her lower abdomen, as if a pregnant woman would, she said to herself, "Did they... Did they lie?" She then looked up. "I... I have to go. I need to process this." Zero Two then marched off into the woods and out of sight, her emotions brooding within her as she contemplated what else APE may have lied to her about.

The two lovers looked at each other as they contemplated their next action. "Hey," Kyouko said to Yasuto. "I... I'm sorry that happened."

"No," Yasuto assured her. "It was my fault for bringing it up. If you just wanna go to bed and forget this ever happened, that's fine. We can have some fun in the lake another ti- IIIIIIII- me!" Yasuto pitched up slightly in his voice when he felt Kyouko grab his crotch.

Kyouko sighed as she smiled. "No, it's fine. If anything, it makes me wanna have sex even more to get my mind off this." She then broke free of him, using her arms to hold herself up in the water. "What are you waiting for? The water feels nice and cool, and I bet when we start, it's gonna feel even better."

...

The next day, Squad 13 raced to a reported Klaxosaur that was incoming, though still a ways away from Cerasus. As they raced through the desert and kicked up the sand underneath them, the clouds above were still producing storms. However, one set of clouds in front of them were peculiar, raising their suspicions. Kokoro noted to the group as they got closer, "What's up with those clouds over there?"

"I think we found our target," Ichigo replied. "Everyone, get ready. I gotta call it in to Headquarters." Goro then tuned the radio to the dispatch channel for Ichigo to talk on. "Delphinium to Headquarters."

"Go ahead," a dispatcher replied back to her from the control room.

"Squad 13 is 10-84," she replied, giving the code for arrival. "We are ready to give the 10-12."

In response, a single beep was sent out over the radio by the dispatcher. "All units include Cerasus Dispatch, hold the air. Delphinium, go ahead with the 10-12."

"10-75 upon arrival," Ichigo radioed back. "I have a Major-Scale Gutenberg-class Klaxosaur flying in the sky with what appears to be a small storm system of clouds surrounding it that it generated. It appears to have various tentacles or cables hanging down to the ground, and it is moving at a slow pace. Standby for the 10-30." Ichigo then mentally sent a snapshot of her view of the Klaxosaur back to the control room, which was coded as a 10-30.

"10-4," the same dispatcher replied. "We received the 10-30, and we'll be assembling your RIT Franxx."

Meanwhile, Heliconia had already fired all of its rockets at the Franxx, striking it and causing it to scream out in pain. "Alright, that should piss it off a bit," Yasuto radioed to everyone. "Get ready for strike!"

"Argentea," both Miku and Zorome shouted at the same time as Argentea readied it's claws. "Roll out!" As they zipped through the sky, they slashed at the Klaxosaurs' long and thin tentacle-like cables in their attempt to reach the core. However, just as they seemed like they would reach it, they were caught in a mass of cables, stopping them dead in their tracks. As Argentea struggled, it began to tear at the cables, and then finally, it broke free, crashing to the ground just as several large orbs dropped from the Klaxosaur and exploded nearby.

Ichigo looked over the scene and ordered her squad, "Be more careful! This thing is unpredictable!"

Then, as Argentea stood back up, both Miku and Zorome noticed something odd about the Klaxosaur. "Oh hey," Miku said through Argentea. "It looks like the core's right there!" Indeed, as Argentea pointed at it, the whole squad could see that the core of the Klaxosaur was inside a translucent sac of some kind of fluid, and was completely visible in a seemingly-vulnerable spot. "Let's get it!"

As Argentea jumped up, both Yasuto and Goro realized it was most likely a trap. Both of them shouted at the same time, "No, Argentea, don't!"

Indeed, as Argentea sank its claws into the sac, their fears were proven right. The sac suddenly expanded greatly in size as it began to envelop Argentea. Miku screamed out in fear, "HELP! WE CAN'T MOVE!" As the sac expanded, it began to emit lighting and become more unstable.

Goro and Ichigo both looked at each other through the screens in the cockpit and nodded, jumping up to save Argentea from being fully engulfed. Delphinium quickly pushed Argentea out of the sac, quickly becoming irrecoverably engulfed itself. Ichigo yelled out, "Everyone, get back! I think it's gonna explode!"

Then, silence.

Delphinium was fully enveloped by the sac and disappeared from sight. Hiro screamed out in panic, "Ichigo! Goro! No!" As he did, Ichigo's prediction was right, and the Klaxosaur practically exploded in front of them with the force of numerous tons of dynamite. The blast was massive, and as it kicked up sand and debris and turned rocks into shrapnel, all of Squad 13 had to look away and bunker down to avoid becoming victims themselves. The explosion was deafening, and as the rest of the team's hearing slowly came back, they were met with a chaotic scene.

"I'll take command," Yasuto radioed to everyone before switching to the Dispatch channel. "Heliconia to Headquarters, urgent!"

"All units hold," a dispatcher replied. "Heliconia, go ahead with the urgent."

"10-66," he immediately replied, using the code for a missing, injured, or trapped Franxx unit. "We have a 10-66 with Delphinium! It was caught in an explosion and we have no contact with either of its pilots. Heliconia will be assuming Incident Command at this time. Get me the elevated assignment that goes with that 10-66 sooner rather than later!"

...

Inside Delphinium, its internal systems had all but been stopped by the damage it had taken, and as a result, it force-disconnected Ichigo. Goro was unable to pull the ejection handle for her in time, causing both of them to be stuck inside the Franxx unit. As the cockpit was surrounded in darkness and red error messages, the two of them adjusted their eyes and looked around. They very quickly realized they were stuck, and it would be a long time before they could be rescued. As they both stood up and looked around, they remained largely quiet, unable to receive any messages over the radio as of yet. Goro looked over Ichigo, his first concern being her rather than himself, wondering if she had been injured. Her plug suit was bathed in a dark red light from the error messages, and to Goro, it seemed to almost enhance the way she looked.

Ichigo broke the silence first, telling Goro with a sarcastic tone, "Well, this is just great. We're stuck in a Klaxosaur." She then sighed and addressed another topic. "You know, you could have punched out and saved yourself. Well, I mean, I don't know how the fluid inside this sac of whatever this thing is would treat your body since you only have a seat and I got a whole capsule, but it would beat being stuck here. Why did you stay?"

Goro chuckled. "I stayed with you because I don't want to leave you to your own devices in here. If I tried to punch both of us out, it would eject me first, and I wasn't sure if the capsule would form in time before the sac enveloped the hatch your capsule ejects from. Like you said, we don't know what the fluid in the sac would do to either my body, even with my own stamen plug suit, or the cushioning around your capsule. Ichigo, I want to keep you safe."

"You care a lot about me," Ichigo noted to him, both curious and somewhat annoyed by his devotion to her. "Apparently it's sometimes to a fau-"

Suddenly, Goro interrupted Ichigo with a kiss, caressing her increasingly reddened cheek as well. Ichigo was taken aback by the sudden kiss, and held her eyes open as his eyes closed, but then closed her eyes and gave in as they locked lips for a good 20 seconds. The kiss felt odd to Ichigo. For some reason, she did not resist it after a split second or two, and it did not feel bad, despite how she felt about Hiro. As they split, Goro told her, "My apologies. I just wanted to get that out there before something happens."

Ichigo took his hand in her hands as she guided it away from her face. She took a deep breath as she took in what had just happened. "I see... Goro, you know how I feel about Hiro." She noted the hair clip she wore by pointing at it. "I didn't realize it until Zero Two came around, but I realize now that I love Hiro. He knows me very well."

"I know you, Code 015," Goro replied to her with her code number as he produced his old hair clip. "Back then, I made one, too, but Hiro beat me to the punch."

Ichigo held it in her hands, feeling a mix of emotions in response to his words. "You did..." She then smiled. "Are you gifting it to me now?"

"Maybe," Goro replied to her with a smile.

"Then I accept," Ichigo replied. "I'll use it as a backu-" Just as she was about to put it in her pocket in her plug suit, her current hair clip suddenly broke into pieces, letting her hair fall down in a comical fashion. For a few seconds, Ichigo just paused in disbelief at what had just transpired. She then took a deep breath and admitted, "Or it will be my new hair clip since my old one decided to crap out on me just now."

Goro decided to help her. "Here, let me do it." Ichigo let him, Goro gently holding her hair in place as he affixed the hair clip correctly. "And with that, we're all set."

As the error messages went away around them, the lights turned back on, indicating the Franxx was running on reserve solar battery power. The interior of the closed off cockpit was a drab grey, and the light allowed them both to check their bodies for any injuries. As Ichigo did, she decided to bring some humor into the otherwise grim situation by asking, "Hey, Goro, imagine if this fluid around us is just like that one Klaxosaur from before."

"The one that dissolves clothes?" Goro immediately blushed in response as Ichigo stifled a laugh. "I, uh... I don't know why you're laughing."

"It's your reaction," Ichigo replied to him. "You're so cute when you get flustered like that." She immediately realized what she said and quickly dialed down on her laughter. _"Wait,"_ she thought to herself. _"Did... Did I just call him cute?! But..."_

"You stopped laughing," Goro noticed. "Are you alright?" He thought the exact same thing as she said, thinking to himself, _"Damn it, she's so cute when she reddens up in embarrassment like that. It's almost like her coincidental namesake, the strawberry."_

"Yeah," Ichigo assured him as she blushed herself. "I'm fine. I just said it looked kinda cute to see you get flustered. Anyway, I wouldn't mind if that happened again, as long as you were the only one around. I'm not gonna let it distract from my duties. Just... Just let me know privately if it happens, okay? Don't keep me out of the loop. My embarrassment over being naked around you is largely gone, but what really irked me was that you guys kept it a secret from us until after the battle."

Goro sighed. He admitted, "I'll admit. We fucked up. We thought at the time that it would have thrown you guys off in battle and caused someone to get hurt rather than just some temporary embarrassment. At least, that's what I was thinking. I'm sure some of the others had more perverted thoughts in their minds for why they didn't say anything." He then extended her hand out to her. "I can assure you that I wasn't thinking that."

Ichigo shook his hand in response, chuckling. "It's fine. That's old news, Goro. I believe you."

The two were then interrupted by a sudden radio transmission from an unfamiliar voice, presumably a Franxx pilot from another plantation sent to help them. "This is RIT. Delphinium, can you hear us?"

"This is Delphinium," Ichigo replied. "We're inside the cockpit. We're both okay, but we're trapped in here and running on solar backup."

"Alright," the pilot, a stamen, replied. "Just stay put for now. We'll get you out as soon as we can. Update us if anything changes. We're trying to find a way in right now."

"10-4," Ichigo replied to him. She then turned back to Goro, joyfully telling him, "Help's on the way, Goro!"

"All they need to do is find us before we run out of power," Goro noted to her. "We got about 85% power left."


	18. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 18

Outside the Klaxosaur that trapped Delphinium, Squad 13 and Squad 26 discussed among each other in their Franxx units as Heliconia, the new incident commander, prepared a plan of attack and rescue. It had been about 45 minutes since Delphinium got trapped inside the Franxx, and the Klaxosaur itself would hit Cerasus in another hour and a half. Yasuto, discussing to Code 090 about the operation, pointed out with Heliconia, "Okay, so do you see that X-shaped hole on top of the Klaxosaur?"

"Yeah," 090, who was in one of two Franxx sent on the RIT assignment, replied to him. "What's up with that?"

"It's like an exhaust port," Yasuto replied. "That seems to be the safest entryway into this bastard. Any other way, and we risk getting trapped ourselves."

Then, they both were interrupted by a dispatcher from Cerasus. "Cerasus Headquarters to Command, prepare to receive information on your MDT."

"Command, 10-4," Yasuto replied. Heliconia then turned back to 090's Franxx. "Okay, we're getting info on this guy. I'll send it to you as soon as it's done loading for me."

Kyouko could see the information as it came in, and read some of it out loud. "Okay, it says that the fluid in the sac of the Klaxosaur is not harmful to Franxx units, however it is toxic to humans and should not be consumed. It powers the Klaxosaur, and is similar in viscosity and flammability to... To Napalm?! Guys, this thing is literally using its fuel to explode to deal with threats!"

"Fuck," Yasuto muttered as he realized the rescue would be more difficult than he realized. "This will be hard."

"I got an idea," 090 replied to him, thinking of an idea that would save them both. "Me and 245's Franxx units are gonna go in from the top. As long as we aren't caught in any explosions, we should be able to still operate inside the Klaxosaur. I'll grab Delphinium and drag it out, while 245 kills the Klaxosaur."

Kyouko remarked with a sigh, "Well, it's the only option we got left."

...

Inside Delphinium, the air was getting tighter as Goro and Ichigo were running out of breathable air. All Franxx units had at a minimum enough emergency compressed air and oxygen to supply a cut off cockpit for 4 hours, but only if one person was inside. They both were sweating profusely from the heat, and both wondered if help would reach them in time. Ichigo asked Goro as she wiped sweat off of her forehead, "Goro, I gotta ask. When was it that you began to like me? Like... Consider me how Zero Two sees Hiro?" It somewhat hurt her to say those words, given her feelings for Hiro, but she had to phrase it that way.

"I didn't realize it until Zero Two explained it to us," Goro told her. "But I think it was in the Garden. Yes, definitely. I fell in love with you in the Garden. I'm just glad I got to tell you how I felt. I don't... I don't particularly care if you end up with Hiro like that... You'd be in good hands with him. I was probably a bit selfish in confessing to you, and for that, I apologize."

Ichigo felt terrible. She felt guilty for the fact that Goro loved her though she had feelings for Hiro. At the same time, though, a part of her was telling her that perhaps Goro was not a bad person to be with if Hiro did not work out. "No, don't be. I'm the one that's sorry about all this. I really am."

"It's not your fault," Goro assured her. "Really... You can't help the way you feel about Hiro, and I can't help the way I feel about you." Wanting time change subject matter, he decided to ask her a seemingly random question. "Hey, Ichigo, what do you see when you're connected?"

"When I'm connected?" Ichigo thought to herself for a second. "I just close my eyes, but I don't see pitch black when I close them. I instead fly through something... I can't really visually describe it, but it's like I'm seeing the inner thoughts of whoever I'm riding with. After the connection is complete, I wake up, but I'm not in my own body anymore. No... I'm actually in Delphinium. Apparently, according to scientists, my physical body is unconscious and unresponsive the whole time."

"Yeah," Goro confirmed. "Your actual body inside the Franxx doesn't move or speak at all. It did twitch a bit when that liquid from that clothing-dissolving Franxx attacked us, but that's it."

"Not every Franxx is like that, though," Ichigo continued. "You know, me, you, and Hiro used to have long run-on conversations about stuff like this, and I'm glad that in our possibly last moments, we're having one..." She then let out a chuckle. "Anyway, I know that the Franxx that Yasuto-oniisan and Kyouko-oneesan are in lets the pistil move around within her restraints in the Franxx cockpit. A few more advanced Franxx also have it, but Heliconia has been modified so much from its original incarnation that Kyouko's face still appears on the face of Heliconia even though her body is more free inside. She told me she can switch off this connection to talk to Yasuto privately, though. It's a whole complicated thing, really."

Goro smiled. "I'm glad that we're getting back into this. We haven't had a conversation like this in a while. As for me, I just see whatever's in front of me. It's boring, really."

"Oh, shut up," Ichigo weakly shoved Goro playfully in response. "It's not boring. Don't sell yourself short like that."

"I guess you're right," Goro remarked. "Especially when you're in my view." He then coughed after swallowing some sweat down the wrong hole. "Agh, damn it. Choked a bit on my own sweat."

Ichigo then slowly and tiredly moved her body up next to Goro's, getting about ready to pass out. "Goro, listen, you know I love Hiro, but... If we're gonna die in here, I'm glad it would be by your side." She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, ready to accept what seemed like an inevitability. "Staying in here with you for so long got me thinking about a lot of the decisions I've made, and a lot of the decisions that were made for me. I think... I think I've lived a good life."

"Yeah," Goro replied to her, also ready to accept his own fate. "I have, too." The two closed their eyes and prepared to accept their fate. Now, death seemed peaceful to them, instead of the frightening menace it had been before.

Then, they both were jolted awake by a sudden shift in Delphinium. As they looked around and wondered what caused it, Code 090's voice came through on the radio. "Delphinium, this is Code 090 and Code 170, we got you. We're dragging your unit out now."

Goro and Ichigo smiled, realizing the help they had been promised had now come. Goro radioed back to Code 090, "Thank you! You guys got us at the right time!" As they both felt Delphinium move by being dragged by 090 and 170's Franxx, he told Ichigo with joy in his voice, "Looks like we get to fight another day, Ichigo."

...

The day after, the team relaxed at Mistilteinn, all relieved by the successful rescue of Goro and Ichigo. However, Kokoro was not too active or social for the day, and had largely stayed upstairs in the girl's dorm room, not even getting fully-dressed. While she had been a bit on the cranky side the day before, today, she was rather quiet and moody. Downstairs, her partner, Futoshi, wondered why she had acted so to the others in the front living room. He exclaimed in his comically protective tone, "Why does Kokoro have to suffer alone? I don't want her to, since I'm her partner!"

"It just happens about once a month," Ikuno explained to him. "And for some reason, only the girls go through it. Trust me, though, you boys should consider yourselves lucky you don't. It varies between us, and each time. Kokoro's just always had more painful 'bleeding times' than any of us, but this time must be pretty bad." It was clear none of the girls except Kyouko knew the true purpose or name of their periods. Kyouko had not told them due to not wanting to get in trouble, and also referred to it as the 'bleeding times' as they did. "There's really nothing that can be done, at least nothing that you could do. I'm glad you're concerned about her, though. That says a lot." Ikuno was both genuinely glad Futoshi had the most concern out of the boys about this, but also intended it as a minor dis at Mitsuru. "Not every boy shows concern." Mitsuru simply ignored the remark.

"My bleeding times used to be super painful sometimes," Kyouko remarked. "They weren't always, but I'd say about two-third of the times I got them in the year, I ended up in Kokoro's shoes. Thing is, once I was like almost 16, the pain gradually lessened, and now, I'd say I end up in Kokoro's shoes maybe three times at the most per year, not like six or seven. One year, the first full year I got them, I had eight. That shit suuuuuuucked."

Miku laughed in response. "Woah... I've had bad ones, but... I think I'd rather get eaten by a Klaxosaur than go through eight painful ones in a year."

...

About half an hour later, as Kokoro laid in bed and read through the book she had found at the beach, hoping to make up for lost time due to how busy they had been and finish the book, she wondered to herself why the Adults had never taught her or anyone else the things in the book. She knew such information was forbidden due to Kyouko's warnings, but wondered why. _"I wish I had been taught this before I started bleeding from my fucking crotch,"_ she thought to herself, the pain from her cramps making her uncharacteristically vulgar and angry in her head. _"At least I wouldn't be driven so mad from this shit. At least I'd be able to take some comfort, no matter how little, in the fact that it actually had an important purpose other than to make my abdomen and lower back feel like they're getting fucking skewered by Satan's pitchfork once a God damn month! Well, that, and to stain my clothes with blood unless I take precautions!"_ She then closed the book and sighed, speaking to herself. "I fucking hate this pain. Now that I know about it, I don't mind the actual reason behind it, but I just wish I felt less pain. I don't even mind the blood or anything. I just want there to be less damn pain."

Then, she heard a knock at her door and slowly sat up in bed, not caring that she was naked aside from her lower underwear. She was not expecting a visitor, and wondered who it was or why they were there. She decided to hold off on replying to see what they would do, and sure enough, they knocked again, this time also speaking. As soon as she hears the voice, she blushed and grabbed the blanket, covering her chest up to her shoulders. "Kokoro," Mitsuru asked on the other side of the door. "Are you there? Miku sent me up here to see if you needed anything."

"Uhhh," Kokoro replied. "I mean, you can come in if you want. I don't mind." Mitsuru decided to comply, opening the door and walking in. As he noticed she was topless, he looked away, slightly embarrassed. "It's okay. That's what blankets are for."

"Right," Mitsuru replied as he sat down on the opposite bed.

"Why did Miku send you up here? I'm surprised she didn't send a girl, or at least Futoshi?" Kokoro did not mind his presence, but was curious.

"Actually," Mitsuru replied, admitting the truth. "She didn't. I just thought the idea of leaving you up here to your own devices was stupid. Plus, Futoshi was panicking over it, and I wanted to get him to calm down, so I told him I'd check on you, since he was afraid you'd react like you did with that stupid boys versus girls thing. Personally, I think that's a thing of the past, and I've certainly moved on from it." He sighed as he laid down on the bed. "So, this is the girls' room, huh?"

"Yeah," Kokoro replied. "I don't know what you were expecting, but it probably isn't much different from you guys' room."

Mitsuru nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, apologies if it's not a question you want to answer, but... How does it feel? The bleeding times?"

"The actual term is a period," Kokoro replied, using one hand to hold up the childbirth and sexual reproduction book to Mitsuru and her other hand to hold up the blanket covering herself. "Or, scientifically, menstruation. I won't say it out loud, but you can read Chapter 4 of the book to see the actual purpose of it." She reached over and handed the book to him, which he accepted. "Anyway, to answer your question, it depends, as you know. For me, my periods tend to be really painful. I try to remain calm and nice like my usual self, but I'd say I turn into Zorome or Miku inside my head." She then chuckled, glad she was able to bring some light into the situation. "The pain can differ, but mostly, it feels like two people playing five-finger fillet on my stomach or back and missing their fingers each time, coupled with the occasional massive headache."

Mitsuru could not help but smile at her analogy. "You must come up with colorful analogies for that pain. Also, I can't exactly picture you being cranky and mad all the time like those two."

Kokoro smiled, glad he was willing to listen and hear her out. "Yeah, I guess. When you're sitting here, withering in pain and wishing that your body would stop throwing a fucking hissy fit because you're not reproducing or however that book describes it, you tend to think up some interesting things to get your mind off the pain."

Mitsuru looked at her with surprise, not expecting her to be so vulgar with her words. "Holy shit... I don't think I've ever heard you drop an F-bomb before."

Kokoro looked to the window outside, looking to the sunlight beaming down into the room. "I know. Mitsuru, I'm not some shy and quiet nice girl all the time. We all have our moments of frustration." She then felt another pain begin to hit her in the lower abdomen. "Agh... Fucking Christ, not again... Here it comes..." She dropped the blanket, exposing her chest, but no longer caring that she had basically flashed Mitsuru.

Mitsuru, almost out of instinct, stood up from the bed and sat beside her, surprising her. "Kokoro, did it happen again?" In a rare moment for him, he showed deep concern in his facial expression and tone of voice.

Kokoro nodded through the pain. "Yeah... Thank you... Agh, shit..." She took a few deep breaths as the pain began to ebb and flow, the occasional tear flowing down her face as a result. "It feels like I'm being ripped open from the inside. I really, really hope we don't have to pilot any Franxx today. I'm not in the damn mood nor condition to do so." She then unexpectedly embraced Mitsuru, causing the young man to blush intensely, almost as intense as Kokoro had done when the Boys versus Girls incident had occurred. "Sorry about that, I just... I need this..."

The two were then interrupted when a voice called out to them as its owner walked in. "Kokoro, it's Miku. How are you doi-?" She stopped herself when she saw Kokoro and Mitsuru sitting on the same bed, with Kokoro's arms wrapped around him and him for comfort. All three of them paused as they processed in their heads what was going on. Miku was shocked to see Mitsuru in the room at all, let alone so close to Kokoro, and assumed the worst. "Mi-... Mi-... Mitsuru! Kokoro, what is he doing?!"

Kokoro immediately tried to calm her down by assuring her, "Miku, look, it's not what it looks li-"

Miku took a deep breath to calm herself as she turned to Mitsuru, suspicion in her eyes, and in a serious tone of voice asked him, "What are you doing here?"

Mitsuru calmly replied to her, "I thought the idea of just leaving her to her own devices up here while she's in so much pain was stupid, so I came up here."

Annoyed, the brunette replied back to him, "I get that, but boys don't really understand this pain."

"He's fine," Kokoro assured her. "In fact, him being up here kinda helped. I'm... I'm not too sure why, but it calmed me."

Miku sighed, wondering what to do with them. "It is what it is. Just, please, Mitsuru, don't do anything stupid. Kokoro, you might wanna consider putting something on. I'll be back later." She then left the room, walking down the hall and thinking to herself about what she saw. _"Mitsuru and Kokoro are getting close again,"_ Miku thought in her head. _"I haven't seen this since the Garden. All three of us used to be close before he had his falling out with Hiro. After that, he practically ignored us, and it hurt. What exactly do those two have? They're not partners in a Franxx. I just don't want Kokoro to get into something she isn't prepared to handle and get hurt, whatever it is."_

Inside the room, Mitsuru sat up, wondering if he should leave. "Maybe I should go. She has a point."

"No, wait," Kokoro asked of him. "Please, stay if you want. I already told you, I don't mind you being here. It gets my mind off the cramps. Don't worry about that." She then pulled her blanket up back over her chest to cover herself. "Maybe I shouldn't have flashed you like that. It probably gave Miku the wrong impression."

"I don't care," Mitsuru assured her. "I saw everything already. The initial shock and curiosity value is gone. Believe me, I got to see much more than I asked for of Ikuno by either accident or a prank, twice." The two then shared a laugh at the remark. "You know, I really don't know why I strayed away from you and Miku after what happened with me and Hiro. Maybe I just... Maybe I just wanted to be alone... Perhaps I felt like if Hiro betrayed me, you guys would have eventually as well."

"Like you said yourself with the Boys versus Girls incident," Kokoro replied to him. "That was in the past. We can turn a new leaf."

...

A few days later, the gang had gathered at the front foyer of Mistilteinn in their formal uniforms. They had been informed that they were to receive medals for their bravery in combat, and were to travel to the city below to do so. It was rare for most parasites to travel to the city, though not unheard of, especially for more specialized parasites within the APE Services Squads, to which Kyouko and Yasuto had once belonged to aside from their work in Pilot Defense Squads like Squad 9/15/13 or Frontline Squads. Zero Two herself had been in an APE Services Squad herself, the Nines, the most elite squad of any of the parasites in Zone 9 of the world, and perhaps the most elite of the Numbers Squads of all 22 zones.

As they mingled among themselves, Nana and Hachi then appeared before them in the front doorway, ready to lead them down. Nana addressed the group first, starting off with, "Alright, kids. Now that you're all gathered here today, before we go down, I just wanna say that I am proud of the achievements you all have made. Well, both of us are, excuse me. Anyway, we are both honored and privileged to be your caretakers. When I first caught wind of these awards, I was surprised APE was giving them out in this fashion, but believe me, I was not surprised at all that Squad 13 was chosen. You all have proven yourselves to be among the elite among the Pilot Defense Squads not only in Zone 9, but across the entire world. We've had our difficulties before, but we've never come across anything that we didn't overcome. Anyway, before I talk your ears off, let's travel. Thank you."

As the team began to walk out, Yasuto talked to Hiro and Zero Two, the latter of whom was wearing her normal red uniform. Kyouko and Yasuto themselves wore similar formal uniforms to the rest of Squad 13, but had additional cordions and citations on their jackets for their service they had already given. "I'm surprised you're not wearing your formal uniform," Yasuto noted to Zero Two. "This is a pretty big deal."

"Eh," Zero Two shrugged. "It's just more platitudes from the Adults."

Yasuto agreed with her, but still felt as if a formal uniform should be worn. "Don't get me wrong, I agree with you there, but still. I mean, it's not like everyday that us parasites get to go down to the city below their residence. Zorome looks pretty excited, as usual."

Indeed, Zorome was excited. He was practically jumping for joy at the thought of going down where the Adults lived. The three of them could overhear him talking to Futoshi, telling him, "This is going to be so rad! I'll be able to actually meet more Adults and see where and how they live, and maybe where and how I'll live one day! I've been dreaming of this day for a long time, and it's second only to the dream of actually becoming an Adult!"

Yasuto felt happy for him, but also felt a pang of sadness, knowing that his dreams were naive and would never become a reality. _"Haha, yes. Innocence... I remember having that,"_ he thought to himself. _"I wonder just how he'll react when he finds out the truth. The truth that in some ways we are already or are at least close to being true adults, and not the perversion of that term, or that our life expectancy is only three and a half in the field due to our attrition rate. I've probably said and thought it to death, but APE and its collaborators will truly burn in Hell when they are judged, if the Abrahamic religions were right about the afterlife. Maybe the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, and so on were onto something about that whole Heaven and Hell concept."_

Meanwhile, Kyouko and Kokoro walked together for most of the way to the elevator. "So," Kyouko remarked to her. "You still feeling any pain?"

"Not anymore as much," Kokoro was thankfully able to report. "That one day I was in bed the whole time was the worst I've ever felt, hands down. Have you ever gotten it that bad?"

"Absolutely," Kyouko replied to her. "I got them that bad at your age, too, sometimes two months in a row. Now, the pain is nowhere near that level." She secretly thought to herself, _"Hahaaa, birth control! Works wonders. I'm surprised they don't issue it as a period cramp relief medication or something instead of me having to basically steal a whole bunch whenever I make visits to the logistics area of plantations. You'd kill two birds with one stone: Reduce the amount of downtime for pistils by reducing the pain from cramps, and you'd prevent it at least massively reduce the risk of pregnancy if a stamen and a pistil get a bit freaky on the down-low. Isn't that the reason why they ban us from having sex anyway? Mass prescriptions of this stuff would remove any necessity for one, really! Of course, that makes too much sense, so APE would never do it. Speaking of, that reminds me. I need to make a pit stop at the medical facilities below..."_


	19. Revolver: 19

"I still can't believe Zorome got himself stuck in the city," Kyouko remarked to Yasuto inside Heliconia as Squad 13 stood by outside of a mine construction zone they had to guard. Their comms were off, so no one else could hear them, but they were not on Stealth Mode, meaning that they could still receive messages. "He's lucky he didn't get himself killed. The Adults that aren't working for APE are usually very distrustful of Children and see the as dirty."

"You're not kidding," Yasuto replied to her as he checked the settings on Heliconia. "Anyway, what kind of music shall we play on patrol today, my dear?"

"Throw on a Beatles record," Kyouko suggested. "They're over a hundred years old now. That's like platinum oldies, not just golden oldies." The two shared a laugh as he threw on the album Rubber Soul from 1965. As its opening track, Drive My Car, began to play, Kyouko remarked, "Rubber Soul? Nice choice. Their psychedelic era was cool."

Their conversation was interrupted whe they got a message from Cerasus dispatch. "Headquarters for all Squad 13 units, you have about seven Conrads coming up on your nine o'clock position. Get ready for combat."

"On it," Ichigo replied.

As Kyouko sat in position and readied herself to be connected, she remarked to Yasuto, "This should be a nice, easy fight. No troubles whatsoever."

Immediately afterwards, though, her prediction aged like milk on a hot summer day when she and Yasuto heard a loud metallic crash nearby. It was immediately followed up by Ikuno screaming into the radio, "Mayday, mayday, mayday! Code 326 is down! Code 326 is down!"

"God damn it," Kyouko annoyingly remarked. "I spoke too soon." Heliconia then quickly powered up, and her face appeared on its front, indicating it was active and ready for combat. Kyouko then spoke through it, saying to the rest of Squad 13, "You guys go on and fight. We'll take care of Mitsuru and Ikuno!" Heliconia then ran for Chlorophytum's side and then shut itself off as the cockpit door opened up. Kyouko and Yasuto ran out and saw that Chlorophytum had collapsed to its knees.

Yasuto said to his partner as he planned out a way to get them out of the combat zone. "We'll have to pick them up and drag them, Kyouko. It's the only way."

"Yeah," Kyouko said back as she ran back inside the cockpit. "Hop in!"

...

After half an hour of dragging Chlorophytum back into place at its docking port, Kyouko and Yasuto ran up to the cockpit entrance with medical bags in their hands. As they ran up, Ikuno buzzed them in and pointed to Mitsuru, telling both of them, "He just basically passed out! I checked him over as you guys dragged us, and he has a super high fever. I last checked it about 5 minutes ago, and it was 41 Celsius."

Indeed, Mitsuru was not feeling well. His skin was noticeably pale and whitewashed, and sweat poured down his forehead. Yasuto began an evaluation of him, telling Ikuno, "We're gonna start doing our assessment and treatment until a crew from APE can get here! They should be here in about 10-15 minutes." He then turned back to Mitsuru. "Okay, Mitsuru, hey, can you hear me?" Mitsuru only replied back with a moan, indicating that he was not fully alert. "Alright." Yasuto then opened his medical bag and pulled out a penlight, sticking it into Mitsuru's mouth to check his airway. Once that was done, he pulled out a stethoscope to check his breathing. As he listened, he could hear wheezing inside his body. "He's wheezing pretty bad, Kyouko. Get me an O2 bottle, a nonrebreather, an IV kit, and a bag of saline. You got the cardiac monitor, right?"

"Yeah," Kyouko replied as she pulled out said monitor. "Want me to finish the assessment and get the IV and shit set up while you start with the monitor?"

"Sure," Yasuto replied. He then opened a case on the monitor and pulled out electrodes. As he began to ready them for use, Kyouko paused to check Mitsuru's breathing rate for about 15 seconds. Once that was done, she applied a nonrebreather to Mitsuru with oxygen. Once it was on, she checked Mitsuru's pulse, noting to herself that it was a bit thready. "Kyouko," Yasuto told her. "Put this pulse ox on him." Kyouko nodded and put it on his finger.

"I'll check his blood glucose level," Kyouko told him as he pulled out a test strip and ripped off part of Mitsuru's suit at the gloves to expose his hand, followed by her pricking his finger to get some blood. "By the way, his breathing rate was 24." Once she put the now-bloodied test strip in the BG level monitor, it read back with a blood sugar within normal limits. "Well, we know he's not a diabetic. His BG is fine." By now, Yasuto had cut off much of his upper suit with trauma shears to put on the electrodes for the cardiac monitor. As he put them on his chest, Kyouko rested Mitsuru's right arm on her knee. "Okay, Mitsuru, I'm gonna feel for a vein. When I get one, I'm gonna put an IV in you and start flowing saline. You may feel a pinch when I do it."

As Kyouko readied Mitsuru's right arm for an IV, Yasuto read our the first readings he got on the monitor. "Okay, I got a heart rate of 124, a pulse ox of 93 percent, and a blood pressure of 104 over 70. His heart rhythm is a bit fast, but I see no irregularities in its structure."

"Alright," Kyouko replied to him. She then turned back to Mitsuru. "Okay, I'm gonna stick the IV in." She then slowly inserted the needle into a vein on his right arm. Once it was in place, she held it in place with medical tape. "Ikuno! Come hold this saline bag for me!"

"Right," Ikuno replied as she ran over, quickly grabbing hold of the bag as the saline began to flow into Mitsuru. She was clearly worried for his well-being, despite the two notoriously not getting along well.

...

An hour later, Mitsuru was laying in a bed at the medical bay in Mistilteinn, still recovering from the fever he had. As Ikuno watched over him, Kyouko talked with Nana and Hachi about what had happened. "You think that Child Fever is coming along to him?"

"Yeah," Nana replied, affirming her question. "The other thing is, Mitsuru was always a weaker Child. He had to get special injections while in the Garden, or otherwise he may have not been able to pilot, and could have even died."

"Ah yes," Kyouko remembered. "The elixir injections. He got them unusually young, and at his age, it was an incredible risk. Only 15% of parasites aged 10 and below survive it, and even above the age of 10, it's only 25% until you hit 14. From there, it's around 33%, or a third. The odds in none of those cases are particularly good, but he had balls of pure steel to do it at 9. Me and my partner actually helped to administer them to him."

"No kidding," Hachi remarked, surprised by the coincidence. "Maybe you guys have a deeper connection to Squad 13 than initially thought."

"Perhaps you're right," Kyouko also remarked with a smile. "I think it was destiny that brought us to the 13th Pilot Defense Squad of Zone 9. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I truly belong here."

...

The next day, since Nana and Hachi were busy with APE business, Yasuto was tasked with checking Mitsuru's vitals. As he checked a temperature gauge, he said to Mitsuru, "Okay, looks like your fever is mostly gone. That's pretty good."

"Let me pilot a Franxx," Mitsuru almost immediately demanded of him right after he finished his sentence, startling him.

Yasuto knew that would not be possible yet. "Uh, slow down a sec, dude. Nana and Hachi don't want you piloting for a few more days, and I agr-"

"I said," Mitsuru repeated himself sternly, not listening to him. "Let me pilot a Franxx. Did I fucking stutter, transfer pilot?"

His comment set something off inside the older parasite. He bent down and looked at Mitsuru straight in the eyes, telling him off with, "Okay, that's it. You're going to listen to me, and you're gonna listen good. I've had it with your God damn attitude towards me, my partner, Hiro, and your own partner. You're gonna change the way you treat all of the above I just listed, and you will do it sooner rather than later. I may be a transfer, and I may not be the squad leader, but did you forget that I've been piloting a Franxx since before you were even 10? I'm four years older than you, and I've been piloting for five years longer than you have, so how about you sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up when I give you an order that's meant to keep you alive, okay?"

Mitsuru paused, taking his stern words in. He then formulated a response. "You don't know what happened between me and Hiro. Also, what happens between me and Ikuno is our business."

"I know exactly what happened," Yasuto immediately retorted back. "Hear me out. You wanna know why it seems like Hiro forgot that weird little promise he made to you, that I know about because I was at the Garden as a medical observer when all this shit happened? It's because he did actually forget, but it wasn't his choice." He thought to himself, _"I can't reveal the full story, but I can tell him a little bit and add some ambiguity."_ "While me and my partner were assisting doctors with your Elixir injection, Hiro was undergoing an operation of his own that I cannot reveal due to the sensitivity of it. They fucked it up, though, and in the process, they erased a whole chunk of memories from his head, including the one where he made that promise. There, you have your answer for that, okay?"

Mitsuru nodded, taking a deep breath as he processed the bombshell that had just been dropped on him. It was a crushing feeling, the realization that all this time, he had been cruel to Hiro for something he could not even control hitting him like a wall of bricks. "I... I see... So he didn't forget. He was made to forget..."

"Exactly," he replied to him as he sat down on the bed next to him. "Look, Mitsuru, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just... What you said just triggered some bad memories. Now, as for Ikuno, I get that you two have your own issues, but when it affects the entire squad's safety, it becomes everyone's issue. The last thing anyone wants is anyone getting hurt or killed. Mitsuru, if you feel like you can't go anywhere with Ikuno, you can put in a request for a Partner Shuffle to Nana and Hachi when they get back."

"Partner Shuffle?" Mitsuru was confused, having never heard the term. "You mean, I can change partners on a non-experimental basis?"

Yasuto sighed, amazed at how uneducated APE was making their newer pilots. "Holy damn, APE held back a lot. Back when me and Kyouko started piloting, we were told all about Partner Shuffles. You could try your hand at piloting with other people in your squad. You could make it permanent or not. I'm surprised they don't tell the new people any of this anymore. Anyway, you can anonymously request one to Nana and Hachi, and they can then present it to the whole squad." He then changed subjects back to Hiro. "Another thing, listen. Don't tell anyone I told you about Hiro. He doesn't know about the botched operation that removed those memories. I could get in trouble if word gets out I told you. Remember, you didn't hear it from me, okay?"

"Right," Mitsuru nodded. "I won't tell anyone."

Then, the two were interrupted by a knock at the doorframe, followed by a female voice. "Uh... Hey, Mitsuru?" Kokoro then walked slowly into view. "I wanted to say hi."

"Come on in," Mitsuru invited her. "Yasuto was just checking my vitals. My fever is down."

"I figured that since you came up to see me when I had problems a few days ago," Kokoro explained herself. "I should return the favor. Thanks for seeing me and hearing me out, by the way." She then also noticed that Yasuto was in the room, and addressed him. "Oh, hi, Yasuto-oniisan."

"Don't mention it," Mitsuru accepted her thanks with. "So, how was the battle I missed?"

"It went alright," Kokoro remarked. "Thing is, Futoshi was... Well, Futoshi. The whole time, he kept obsessing over me, as usual. I just went along with it, but it's starting to get uncomfortable. I don't know how to tell him to slow down, though."

"Kokoro," Yasuto said to her, interjecting in the conversation. "You need to learn how to be more assertive. Futoshi does care about you, but I agree that he does seem very obsessive, almost to the point of being creepy. If you don't like it or he tries to do something you don't feel comfortable with, you need to tell him to stop." He then had an idea form in his head. "You know, since I already brought it up with Mitsuru about Ikuno, how would you feel about a Partner Shuffle?"

...

"...Now that we've explained the process of the Partner Shuffle and have given you all time to discuss it among yourselves," Nana informed the entirety of Squad 13. "Is there anyone here who would like to switch partners? It doesn't have to be permanent."

After a brief pause in the meeting room behind the docking stations for all their Franxx, Ikuno raised her hand first. "I would. Now, hear me out a bit, because this is gonna sound odd. I want to try out a pistil-to-pistil connection. In the event a stamen is killed in action or otherwise incapacitated, I want to see if pistils can still partner up so we don't lose a pair's full capacity."

Nana, Hachi, and everyone else in Squad 13 were surprised by the suggestion. All, of course, except for the older two "transfer pilots." Nana replied to the suggestion with, "Hmm... We can try it. Who do you want to pilot with?"

"Ichigo," Ikuno immediately replied with. "I want to try it with her. We'll do both positions, and see what happens."

"Okay then," Nana replied to her as she wrote notes down on a notepad. "Anyone else? Again, it doesn't have to be permanent."

Kokoro and Yasuto looked to each other for a brief moment and nodded, knowing what she was about to do. She looked to Mitsuru as well and did the same. "Um..." Kokoro then raised her hand, shocking her partner, Futoshi. "I would like to pilot with Mitsuru."

Futoshi, horrified, immediately replied back, "But... But Kokoro! What about us?!" He was clearly distraught by the suggestion of switching, and was seemingly on the verge of tears.

Kokoro felt horrible for doing this to him, but knew that she had to do it. "I... I'm sorry, Futoshi."

Futoshi practically fainted and broke down at the thought, causing Zorome, Goro, and Kyouko to all rush over and stop him from falling over as he said, "Oh no... Oh no..." The three of them together were able to hold him up as he came to from his pseudo-fainting episode.

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Hiro and Zero Two talked to each other quietly, wondering about what would happen. "Do you think a pistil-to-pistil connection is possible, Zero Two?"

"No," she soundly replied. "Absolutely not. When I first... Well, you know, kinda licked Ikuno, I could sense that she was keeping a secret. I think I have a feeling what that secret is now, and I know for a fact the two transfer pilots know what it is, too." She then sighed. "Ikuno is in some ways trapped in the wrong world to be the kind of person she is."

"I see," Hiro noted, wondering what was the deal with Ikuno. He then decided to change subjects. "So, anyway, I've noticed that you've been kinda distant lately. We aren't talking as much, especially outside of the battlefield. I told you, you can talk to me about anything, Zero Two."

"I know," she assured him. "I just feel like we know each other perfectly fine just piloting a Franxx." She then turned around from him, opening up yet another one of her many green lollipops she often had. "Darling, we're fine how we are. Are you really sure you want to know more about me than you already do?" That question left Hiro without any way to reply, he himself unsure if he truly did.

...

"Damn it," Ikuno muttered to herself as she slammed a door nearby Chlorophytum with her fist. Her attempts to connect with Ichigo in both riding positions had failed, and she was unusually distraught over it. "It failed!" Ichigo had already returned to the girl's locker room by then, wondering why Ikuno had picked specifically her.

Hachi and Kyouko, both watching her, felt uneasy about how she reacted. Hachi remarked to her, "This is unusual. I'm surprised to see someone so distraught over it."

In her head, Kyouko had a plan, being sympathetic to Ikuno. _"Ichigo is clearly straight. Ikuno is clearly not straight. Whether she's exclusively into other girls or wants a little bit of both worlds like me is unknown. Maybe if someone who was a girls and was also not straight piloted with her..."_ "Hachi, Ikuno," she then said to both of them. "I have an idea."

Ikuno looked over and began to walk to her, asking, "What is it? We've exhausted both of our options."

"Not exactly," Kyouko replied to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Hachi, let me pilot with Ikuno. I've had an interest in piloting with another pistil for a while, and my partner already knows about it. I have no problems with Yasuto at all, but I want to see if actually desiring to make a same-sex connection inside a Franxx unit will affect anything."

Ikuno said to herself quietly, surprised someone like her was suggesting the idea, "Kyouko-nee..."

"I can arrange that," Hachi replied with a bow. "Shall we use Heliconia or Chlorophytum?"

"Same procedure as before," Kyouko told him. "We'll use Heliconia first, with me as the pistil and her in Yasuto's position, and then we'll use Chlorophytum last, with the positions reversed, if that doesn't work."

...

About 10 minutes later, both Ikuno and Kyouko sat in Heliconia, ready to begin. Ikuno remarked to her, "Hey, thank you. You didn't have to do this for me."

"It's fine," she assured her younger partner. She then radioed out to Hachi. "Before we begin, can I talk to Code 196 privately, sir?"

"Sure thing," Hachi replied as he closed out his radio comms and Kyouko switched Heliconia to Stealth Mode.

"What was that about?" Ikuno was confused as to why she had requested privacy.

"Because everything I tell you from this point onwards needs to be taken to your grave," Kyouko warned her. "Look, Ikuno, I've had a feeling you were this way for a while, but I now know for sure that you view girls as more than just friends or fellow pilots."

Ikuno, trying and utterly failing to deny it, replied nervously, "Uh, what do you mean, eheheh? I think boys are the bee's knees, sis. Girls are cool, but boys are where it's at..."

Kyouko sighed. "You're a shitty liar, you know that?" She then stood up from her position and faced her. "Before I do anything, Ikuno, how do you feel about personal space and what Hiro and Zero Two did?"

"You mean that kissing thing?" Ikuno wondered what her plans were. "I don't mind it. It's a bit unusual, but I don't think it's wro-"

Kyouko immediately stopped her there when she closed her eyes, grabbed Ikuno's stamen suit, and kissed her on the lips, surprising her greatly. Ikuno's eyes widened for the first few seconds in shock, but then she closed them and began to accept the kiss. It lasted about twenty seconds before the two of them split, Kyouko holding Ikuno's face by her cheeks. "I know you like girls, Ikuno, and not just as friends. I know that because I do, too."

"But... But you're with Yasuto..." Ikuno was in utter disbelief at the bombshell that had been dropped on her.

"You can like boys and girls," Kyouko assured her. "Ikuno, never, ever for a moment think that you're defective or wrong for feeling how you feel, because you're not." She then sighed as she stood back from her. "You are either a lesbian or you're bisexual, and you are great just the way you are. I know how you feel about Ichigo, and... I know that it must be painful to feel that way about someone and not have them like you back, or know they can never like you back."

Ikuno, who now had tears running down her cheeks, nodded to her. "Yes... Yes..."

"I kissed you because I wanted you to see the truth," Kyouko explained to her. "Listen, I've already found the person I intend to be with for as long as I live, Ikuno. I know for a fact that you will, too, one day. Somewhere, out there, there are hundreds of girls and even boys who feel just like us, like they don't belong because they either like the "wrong gender" exclusively or they like people regardless of what they got in their pants or on their chest. You're not alone, and neither am I." Ikuno immediately reached out and hugged Kyouko, now practically bawling into her shoulders in response. Those were words she had been desperate to hear from someone for a long time, and now that she heard them, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Her crying continued for a full minute.

As Ikuno wiped away her tears, she asked of Kyouko, "Tell me, what do I do about Ichigo?"

"Be very careful," Kyouko instructed her. "If APE gets word of this, they'll have you and me both arrested and shipped off to get re-educated, and as someone who used to assist with that, it's not fun. It's Hell. As much as I hate to admit it, I think for now it would be best not to tell her anything. I'll let you know when it would be a better time. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Ikuno replied, now keeping her emotions more in-check. "Okay, let's get ready to pilot."

"Right," Kyouko replied as she turned off Stealth Mode. She then radioed to Hachi, "Sorry for the long wait. We're ready."

"Alright," he radioed back, completely unaware of what had just transpired. "Commence the startup procedures."

As the two of them sat and waited, they could hear the starter inside Heliconia rumble to life. However, neither of them felt anything. For a half a minute, it felt like Ikuno would once again fail to connect with another pistil. "It's not working," Ikuno said to herself in frustration. "Damn it."

Then, suddenly, it happened.

Kyouko remarked to Ikuno, "Hey, I'm beginning to feel something!"

Hachi radioed back to them in disbelief, "Guys, you won't believe it, but the stats are indicating a connection! It's actually happening!"

Sure enough, after another half of a minute, Kyouko's face appeared on the front of Heliconia, leading to the entire team inside the control center of the docking station to look on in awe. None of them expected it to be pulled off, especially after Ikuno's two test runs with Ichigo failed, but this time, it worked. Kyouko said to herself as Heliconia, "Holy shit! It worked! It actually worked!" In a rare moment of emotion, the entire crew inside the control center spontaneously erupted into cheers and applause as they stood up from their seats and clapped. Even Hachi smiled, impressed by their work.

"It's a bit unstable though," Ikuno remarked. "Even so, this is amazing! I never thought I'd see the day this became a reality!" On the compatibility screens in Heliconia's cockpit, the connection was indeed unstable and thready, but it was there. "Even from this seat, it feels amazing!"

After a full two minutes together, however, the connection dropped, and Ikuno and Kyouko fully returned as Chlorophytum turned itself off. Kyouko breathed heavily as she mentally exited Heliconia and its engines wound down, almost to the point of hyperventilation. "Oh my God..." It had been incredibly taxing for her to make the connection, but she had made it.

Ikuno immediately sat up and raced to her senior's side, asking her out of worry, "Kyouko, are you alright?!"

"Yeah," she assured her as she wiped sweat off of her forehead. "Holy shit... That was intense... It only lasted like a minute... I'm sorry..."

"No, it's fine," Ikuno assured her with a smile on her face, tears now flowing down her cheeks in pure joy. "What matters is that it's possible! Kyouko, we just fucking made history!" The two then embraced, laughing and cheering together.

...

Later on, inside the boys' dorm, Futoshi was crying in his bed as the others minus Mitsuru looked on in worry. He had been devastated by Kokoro's decision to switch permanently with Mitsuru, and the others had tried to comfort him as best as they could. "Why? Why did she leave me? I promised to protect her and defend her with my life!"

"Maybe you overdid it a bit," Zorome noted to him, getting somewhat annoyed by him. "It was a bit overbearing at times. Also, you could stand to lose a bit of weight."

"Easy for you to say," Futoshi remarked back to him just as the man of the hour, Mitsuru, walked in. "Huh? What do you want?!" Futoshi was not happy with him, turning his sadness into anger.

"I came in because I heard you were beat up about it," Mitsuru replied to him. "Look, Futoshi, what happened happened. It's over now."

Futoshi, enraged by the remark, attempted to get up and charge at Mitsuru, yelling, "How can you say that?!" However, Zorome and Goro held him back from actually reaching Mitsuru as Hiro and Yasuto looked on.

The other two stamen walked out with Mitsuru, with Hiro trying to get Mitsuru to understand more where Futoshi was coming from. "Hey, come on man. Cut him some slack. Understand where his feelings are coming from."

Mitsuru stopped in his tracks and looked down. If Hiro has said this just a few days before, he may have snapped at him, but knowing what he knew now about Hiro's memory loss, he held himself back. "I get it... Hiro, I'm not going to snap at you... Okay?" He then turned around to meet his eyes, clearly in a state of tension as he took a deep breath. "Everything's fine." He was clearly conflicted. Should be still hold a grudge to Hiro to keep up appearances since Yasuto had told him to not tell Hiro about the memory loss, or should he forgive him and pretend nothing happened for the past five years without offering any explanation?

Hiro, now more confused than ever, asked Yasuto as Mitsuru walked away out of earshot, "What the hell was that about? Usually, he would have snapped at me if I said something like that."

Yasuto, not wanting to tell him the truth about what he had told Mitsuru, which he was now starting to somewhat regret, simply told him, "Maybe he's just a bit stressed about switching partners." _"God damn it,"_ he thought to himself. _"I knew this would come up at some point. I really hope that Hiro finds out his old memories somehow on his own. If that happens, it'll fully clear up all this nonsense between him and Mitsuru."_

...

Not too long after, Kokoro walked around the greenhouse inside Mistilteinn, lovingly carrying a doll as if it were a baby in her arms. As she looked down at some flowers, she talked to the doll, telling it, "These pretty little things are flowers. They smell and look beautiful. Don't you agree?" Carrying the doll gave her a warm feeling inside her body, as if she was caring for a real person.

Suddenly, however, she was interrupted by Mitsuru's deeply confused and perplexed voice. "Kokoro, what the hell are you doing?"

The girl panicked and accidentally flung the doll up into the air as she almost tripped on her own feet, just barely stopping herself from falling while also catching the doll back in her arms. "Mitsuru... Hey, you can't scare me like that... I almost dropped this doll."

Mitsuru looked over the doll as he walked over to her. "I see you did more reading in that book."

"Yeah," she replied as she sat down on a stool in the greenhouse. "I did. You know, why did we stop having kids?"

Mitsuru immediately thought he had the answer, as it was official APE propaganda. "Well, if I had to guess, it's because the Adults are immortal now. Besides, we're all born in laboratories or something in the Garden by Papa and APE. There's no need for us to have kids that way anymore, because none of the Adults are dying off and thus don't need to be replaced by new people, and whatever way they use to make us Children seems more efficient."

"You're not entirely wrong," Kokoro remarked as she thought about his explanation. "But it just seems like... I don't know... It seems like it makes us less human. After reading that book, it feels like, to me at least, that creating new life is one of the most human activities a person could do."

Wanting to change subject due to how confusing the previous one was becoming to him, he rather bluntly asked her, "Why did you want to ride with me? Futoshi hates me now, and it's obviously kind of a pain in the ass to have to deal with that."

Kokoro sighed, knowing this subject was going to come up eventually. She decided to tell him the truth about her switch. "To be honest," she began. "Futoshi is a great guy, but he really was overbearing. It got to the point where I felt like he liked an idolized and perfect version of me, and not the real me. I'm not perfect at all. Not by a long shot. I don't necessarily consider myself the prettiest among the bunch, nor am I the most assertive or the best at combat. You know what, though? I love that about me." She then stood up, gently putting the doll down. "The fact that I'm not perfect is what makes me human, and there is nothing I'd rather be than that."

Mitsuru nodded, agreeing with her. "You don't have to sell yourself so short, but I agree. Imperfection makes us who we are. However, that doesn't fully explain the decision. Why me of all the other boys?"

"Because you heard me out that one day when my period cramps confined me to my bed," Kokoro continued with more reasons behind her decision. "Futoshi would have just tried to protect and comfort me without hearing me out like you did, not to mention the fact that you didn't overreact when I flashed you my boobs on accident." The two shared a laugh over the flashing incident, finding it more hilarious now than embarrassing. "Yeah... Well, I guess there's another reason that goes far back..."

"How far back? The Garden?"

"Yeah," Kokoro nodded. "Back to the Garden... Back when me and Miku used to be closer to you. All the other girls back then were interested in Hiro, but I had my sights on someone else..."

...

 _Five Years Prior_

A younger Kokoro, aged 9, was playing with Jenga blocks with a younger Mitsuru. As the two looked over their tower, deciding where to pull from next, they both thought intensely. "Hmmm," Kokoro said to herself before she made her decision and began to pull from the middle. "I pull this block."

"I pull this," Mitsuru replied back, pulling another block and closing his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them and found that the tower had not collapsed. "Oh, hey! It didn't fall!"

"I hope it doesn't fall with this," Kokoro replied to him as she pulled another block. However, her hopes were crushed when the tower toppled over and crashed to the floor, confirming Mitsuru as the winner of the game. "Aw man..." Kokoro looked disappointed that she did not win.

"Hey," Mitsuru remarked to her. "Don't feel so bad. You did good, too."

The young girl looked up at him and then smiled, comforted by his words. "Thank you. You're pretty nice, Code 32-... I mean, uh... What did Hiro give you as a name again?" She felt guilty that she forgot his given name.

"Mitsuru," he told her. "It's fine. I don't think it's anything special. I mean, I really am not, either. Your name is super pretty, though, Kokoro!" He then immediately stopped himself when he realized what he had told her, and blushed intensely.

Kokoro laughed, but then stopped when she saw that he felt bad about possibly embarrassing her. "Huh? Hey, it's fine, Mitsuru. I was laughing because I think it's a cool name, too. I also saw your cheeks turn red after that. Mitsuru sounds cool as a name, a lot cooler than just some numbers like 326."

...

 _Present_

"There was just something in the way you were usually so shy and reserved," Kokoro in the present day told him. "But then how with me or Hiro, and Miku as well, you came way out of your shell. After we grew apart, it hurt for a while, and when the time came to send in suggestions for riding partners, I put down Futoshi. I wanted to put you down on that list, but I didn't know if you would have agreed."

"I can see where you came from when you made that decision," Mitsuru remarked to her. "The past few days got me thinking about a lot of things. About how I've been towards Hiro, towards you and Miku, towards, well, everybody. I'm starting to really find myself disgusted at times with how I've been in the past. Maybe a change in partners is what I needed." Kokoro smiled, glad to hear those words from her old friend.

However, their conversation was interrupted when a speaker in the greenhouse sent out an alarm sound. Both of her recognized it as the dispatch alarm. As they got up to hear what the callout was for, Zero Two's voice came over the same speaker, saying, "Reported sighting about 80 kilometers to the southwest, gonna be possibly a Gutenberg-class, ETA is about an hour and 10 minutes to the mine and to Cerasus." She has been the first to receive a printout of the call from a dot-matrix printer located in the front room of the mansion, and thus had to use Mistilteinn's intercom system to give the information out to the others.

Kokoro remarked to Mitsuru, "Well, looks like we got something." They both then ran out of the greenhouse, ready to hop in Genista together for the first time outside of the Partner Shuffle tests and fight.


	20. Red Rose Spreedway: 20

Heliconia, Delphinium, and Strelizia had been deployed to the front of a defensive line set up to counter a fast-approaching Gutenberg-glass Klaxosaur. As the three of them looked over the target from afar in the desert surrounding Cerasus, Ichigo told her two partners through Delphinium, "Okay, everyone, we're going to attack it together in a coordinated fashi-"

"Screw that," Zero Two replied to her as Strelizia readied its weapon. "I'm going in for the kill! I'll see you slowpokes later!"

"Wait a minute," Kyouko replied to her as Heliconia reached out to her to no avail. Strelizia was already charging forward, ready to strike. It quickly jumped up into the air and made a giant deep slash across the top of the Gutenberg. However, to both Hiro and Zero Two's dismay, the cut was not deep enough to reach the core. "Ugh, those two..."

"It's not deep enough," Hiro informed Zero Two out of worry.

"I know," Zero Two replied back, charging right back into the cut and trying to dig. However, as soon as Strelizia dug into the Gutenberg, its body formed a shell around Strelizia, encapsulating it inside, much to Ichigo, Goro, Kyouko, and Yasuto's horror. "Shit!"

"I got this," Kyouko told Ichigo through Heliconia as it jumped up and fired off half of its missiles at the shell, destroying it. Heliconia then landed on the Gutenberg and dragged Strelizia out. As it did, the shards of the Gutenberg's body fell to the ground, and out of them formed many smaller Conrad-class Klaxosaurs. In shock, Yasuto yelled out, "You gotta be fucking kidding me! This is a composite Klaxosaur!"

Ichigo from the ground immediately recognized what the danger was and radioed back to dispatch through Delphinium, "Command to Cerasus Base."

"Go ahead," a dispatcher replied.

"We got what appears to be a composite Franxx," Ichigo replied to him. "I'm not calling a second alarm yet, but be ready to do so if I need one."

Meanwhile, as Strelizia and Heliconia struggled on the ground, Zero Two yelled to Heliconia, "Let me go! I got this!"

"No, you don't," Kyouko angrily told her. "We need to hold back, Zero Two! Don't you have any self-preservation in that head of your's?!"

"Hold on a minute," Kokoro then came through to everyone from behind the front line. "I got an idea. I could fire a round into it to expose it and help break it apart."

"Go for it," Ichigo quickly replied to her. "We need to everything we can!"

Genista nodded and readied itself to fire as Chlorophytum began firing at several split-off Conrad-class Klaxosaurs that were charging at them. Heliconia slashed and killed one of them that approached Genista as Kokoro yelled out, "Alright, me and Mitsuru got the target locked down! We're ready to fire on your command!" Suddenly, however, Kokoro felt Mitsuru jerk the controls forward, making Genista charge head on at the giant Klaxosaur. "What?! Mitsuru?!" Then, both of them were rocked with pain as the Klaxosaur kicked Genista, sending it back several yards from the impact and leaving a giant streak in the deser floor.

"Kokoro-chan," Futoshi called out to his former partner pilot as the connection between Mitsuru and Kokoro was severed by the shock of the impact. "Kokoro-chan!"

As Mutsuru and Kokoro looked around, their connection severed, they both looked up and saw one of the forelegs of the Klaxosaur high above them, ready to pounce as Delphinium and Strelizia slashed across its body above. As the foot came down, Kokoro uncharacteristically cursed as she grabbed a hold of Mitsuru and tried to shield him, screaming, "Oh SHIT!"

Suddenly, however, the impact that would have hit them was stopped. As they looked up, they saw Chlorophytum and Heliconia doing their best to hold up the foot. Futoshi, who was straining on his controls, radioed to Kokoro and Mitsuru, "Are you guys okay?!"

"Yeah," Kokoro replied in relief. "Thank you, Futoshi!"

Then, as Strelizia, Delphinium, and Argentea watched, the other foreleg of the Franxx began to elongate horizontally, forming structural beams snd supports that reached down to the ground as it tried to make a hand to reach at Cerasus itself. Ichigo shouted to the others as the three of them began to chase the arm, "Chlorophytum and Heliconia, protect Genista! We'll kill this thing!"

"On it," replied Futoshi as he pressed the machine gun triggers on his controls to pump the Klaxosaur's foot full of lead. "Hold on a bit longer, Ikuno!"

"Come on guys," Kyouko shouted to Genista. "Get up!"

"We need to get out of here," Kokoro said to Mitsuru as she got back into her original position, now noticing a cut on her forehead that caused blood to drip down her face, presumably from slamming her face into someing in her position from the impact of the earlier kick. However, Mitsuru instead shut his end of the Franxx off, covering up the cockpit and cutting off all but essential outside communication. "Mitsuru, what's wrong?!"

"I...," he told Kokoro as he caught his breath. "You had to protect me... It's my job to do that... It's a stamen's job to protect their pistil, not the other way around. I feel... I feel incompetent..."

"You're wrong!" Kokoro was adamant in her words as she wiped the blood from her face. "You're far from incompetent, Mitsuru!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Hachi, who used the essential communication feature to call them by phone, telling them, "Genista, you need to reconnect now! That's a-"

Kokoro shut off his transmission and disconnected the essential communication function manually, telling him as he did, "Shut the hell up and give us a moment!" She then turned back to Mitsuru. "I have a feeling this is about Hiro, isn't it?"

"It...," Mitsuru explained as he caught his breath. "Damn it..."

"You were hurt once," Kokoro told him, confirming to herself that it was indeed about Hiro. "And it must have stung real bad. I... I guess I did the same, didn't I? I've even broken a promise. I'm telling you, I'm not always the nice and gentle girl you think I am. If I were betrayed, I wouldn't have the right to be angry. The point I'm trying to get at is is that we aren't perfect, Mitsuru. No matter how much the Adults may say we are or they are, it's only human to be imperfect. It's only human to feel emotions, to laugh, to cry, to be happy, to be sad, to be angry. I'd rather be dead than an emotionless 'perfect' husk, which is why I'm doing this..." Kokoro took a deep breath and got back into her piloting position, flipping a red switch with warning symbols around it: 'STAMPEDE: DO NOT USE UNLESS STAMEN IS O.O.S. PER PROTOCOL 29.'

Mitsuru immediately knew what she was about to do, and feared the worst. "Kokoro, what are you doing?! Stop!"

As Kokoro let out a nearly inhumane roar inside the cockpit, both Ikuno and Futoshi yelled together from outside, "Kokoro-chan, don't!" It was too late, however. Inside the cockpit, the pistil's teeth began to sharpen considerably as rage consumed her, two visible digital horns appearing above her head, projected by the headpiece of her suit. Her eyes turned a bright red as she let out another roar.

As Genista revealed a second mouth on the outside consisting of sharpened metal teeth, Kokoro looked up from where she sat, and with the most homicidal and intimidating voice Mitsuru had ever heard in his young life, she said the following to the Klaxosaur in front of her, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Inside Heliconia, Yasuto and Kyouko pulled up the reestablished cockpit video feed of Genista, and were shocked by what they saw when Yasuto dialed the camera view over to Kokoro's position. As Genista fired a massive cannon round into the leg of th Klaxosaur Chlorophytum was holding, barely missing Chlorophytum itself, Kyouko exclaimed in shock, "That bloodlust in her eyes... This is no longer a teenage girl!"

Genista then let out another roar as it charged into the Klaxosaur itself, the blast having damage it enough to expose the core. Strelitzia took immediate action and followed Genista, ready to catch it if something else went wrong. Hiro radioed to Kokoro and Mitsuru, "Guys, hold on!"

Then, in an instant, the Klaxosaur exploded with a massive amount of force, coating the entire ground in its blue blood. As the blood rained down on the rest of Squad 13, they all feared the worst, Futoshi especially so. However, their fears turned into many sighs of relief as Strelitzia emerged from the blast zone, with Genista following behind it, having returned to normal control, albeit a bit shaky as evidenced by Genista's somewhat glitchy facial expression. Futoshi let out a massive sigh as he said to himself, "Damn it... I thought she was gone for good... Mitsuru..."

Inside the cockpit of Genista, a tired out Mitsuru had managed to regain control, with Kokoro having reverted once the core of the Klaxosaur was destroyed just barely in the nick of time. Kokoro herself was also exhausted, as evidenced by her panting. "I... Mitsuru..."

"It's fine," Mitsuru assured her. "Please, just... Don't try that again... I almost lost you..."

Kokoro remained quiet, not able to respond to him, as Genista walked back to Cerasus. From that day forward, their bond would never be the same.

...

Later that night, Mitsuru sat alone in the living room area of Mistilteinn, trying to get the events of the day out of his head. As he pondered to himself, he told himself, "Why did I let her do that? She very well could have died... Damn it, Code 326, what the fuck were you thinking?"

"It's not your fault," Kokoro then interrupted him from behind, having secretly followed him to see what he was up to. "Stop beating yourself up."

Mitsuru sighed as Kokoro knelt beside him, resting her arms and head on the headrest of the couch. "Futoshi punched me for a reason. I didn't want to admit it back there, but... I never thought I'd say this, but I could see myself doing the same in his shoes."

"Looking back now," Kokoro herself admitted. "I guess I did overreact. Even so, what I said about our humanity was right." She placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, wanting to get closer to him. "That day at the beach really opened my eyes. I can't do much with what I know now, but one day... One day, maybe we can get out of this mess. Kyouko-oneesama and Yasuto-oniisan have wanted to for so long."

"You know we can't," Mitsuru replied to her, reluctant to entertain the idea of just leaving. "We have a mission to do, not to mention all the problems we'd cause."

"I know, I know," Kokoro assured her. "I wouldn't dare leave unless all of us are going. Everyone here is my family. I can't abandon them, and Kyouko-oneesama and Yasuto-oniisan feel the same way. We all go or nobody goes. We do things together. Anyway, Mitsuru, I promise you, I won't do things that rash again." She was sincere in her words, and Mitsuru could easily tell.

...

 _One week later_

Squad 13 had been assigned to go back to the Garden for testing, ostensibly to ensure that the team as a whole was alright after Genista's incident with Stampede Mode. While Kyouko and Yasuto did go, they did not need to be tested, so they instead would assist the technicians at the Garden Laboratory for the three-day trip. AS the entire squad walked together into the main lobby of the Garden Laboratory, Miku made a comment to everyone, noting, "I had always seen the lab from afar, but I was never in it."

"I was here several times," Hiro explained to her. "I was a designated special research subject back then. Kyouko, Yasuto, you two were, too, right?"

"Yeah," Kyouko replied with a nod. "After the age of about ten, we spent much of our time here due to our advanced placement. This place is the reason we graduated a year early."

"Alright," Nana then instructed them all as she and Hachi stood before them, holding a folder in her hands. "You are all here for a series of tests. I'm afraid this won't exactly be a homecoming. With the exception of Kyouko and Yasuto, you cannot enter the Garden at any time unless you receive direct permission from me or APE Garden Command. The two parasites I mentioned will go with Hachi to assist the lab technicians for the three days we shall be here, along with Zero Two. The rest of you will come with me. Code 002, the reason you are going with Hachi, Code 085 and Code 099 is because you will be subject to a rather thorough series of tests. I'm afraid we cannot put this off any longer."

"I'd rather not," Zero Two rather nonchalantly replied, not amused by the order given to her. "But okay." Then, a voice called to her from the opposite side of Squad 13, causing her to look up.

"Well, well," Nine Alpha greeted Squad 13 and Zero Two with. "If it isn't Nine Iota. Facny running into you here. What a coincidence, eh?"

Yasuto sighed, realizing he and his partner would have to put up with the Nines for three whole days. He quietly whispered to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "You gotta be _fucking_ kidding me..."

"Whoever that unit's leader is," Miku slyly noted to Kokoro. "He looks pretty cute." Her words caused Zorome to look on in some jealousy.

"These are the Nines," Nana explained. "Each District of APE has a special unit of parasites under their direct control, and in District 9, we have the Nines."

"Thank you for the introduction," Nine Alpha replied to Nana before turning to Squad 13 in general. "I'm glad to see our former teammate is fitting in well with you all. She really was a beast of a pilot when she was with us. I wonder how you all managed to tame her..."

"Tame?" Hiro both wondered and also felt somewhat offended by Nine Alpha's language. "What do you me-?"

"Zero Two is one of us," Ichigo affirmed to them, also herself somewhat offended. "Are you implying she isn't?" Both Kyouko and Yasuto were growing increasingly annoyed.

"I see she's taken a liking to you," Nine Alpha humorously replied, doubling down on his rhetoric. "I never thought she'd play nice with humans, since she really isn't one."

"You know," Kyouko then rather forcefully told them off. "There's a good reason I preferred working with her over any of you guys, but especially you, Nine Alpha, when me and my partner fought on the front lines. She knew when to keep her mouth shut."

Nine Alpha gave her response a chuckle. "Ah, you two were always the odd ones out. Excellent fighters, but you always had a defiant streak. You guys are like two peas in a pod. I can see why you guys were sent to Squad 13 at the same time Iota was."

...

In one of the procedure rooms, Yasuto wore the all-white uniform of APE's Medical Division while under the watchful eye of an Adult, who unlike him wore a mask to protect himself from any exposures to the Children. He would be monitoring Futoshi, who was sitting up in a chair and had electrodes placed on his bare chest. "Okay, man, looks like your vitals are normal."

"That's a relief," Futoshi replied, somewhat amused to see one of his own teammates performing procedures on him. "So, uh, you know what you're doing, right?"

As Yasuto pulled out a needle with an orange serum inside it, he chuckled and assured his comrade. "I've put IVs and jabbed needles into people tons of times. Hell, I've done it on myself and my partner for practice, and she's done it on me. Alright, this will be an intramuscular injection of Serum 369 into Code 214 of District 9, Plantation 13, Squad 13, Mark III, at 12:37 hours." Futoshi barely reacted as Yasuto gently stuck the needle into his right arm and administered the serum into it. "And with that, it's in. Anyway, Futoshi, I gotta go monitor and inject Miku, so I'll be handing you off to my supervisor over there." He pointed at the Adult, who had remained quiet and stoic the entire time. "You'll be in good hands, don't worry."

"See ya around," Futoshi told him as he walked out of the room. Once the door was closed, he thought to himself, _"That was super easy. I wish all visits and checkups by the doctors were like this, but the Adults always seem cold and distant."_

...

"Alright," Kyouko explained to the rest of Squad 13 as they followed her into the main area of the Garden. "I'm only doing this as a favor. This is rather dangerous, and if we get caught, we'll be in all sorts of trouble. Do I make myself clear?" Yasuto was still working in the lab, and was unaware of the events occuring with Squad 13.

"Yes," Hiro replied with a nod, leading the pack. "We won't get caught."

"If you say so," Kyouko replied. As they continued down the hallway, she thought to herself, _"If they wanna see Naomi, they're gonna be in for a not so pleasant surprise when they don't find her."_ "Here," she told everyone as she handed all of Squad 13 ID cards. "If you get questioned, present these. These cards will give you access. They won't question it."

The first stop the gang made on the journey into the Garden was one of the rooms where the pilots-to-be were kept in. They were all sitting at a table, eating together and not noticing the older parasites watching them. Kyouko, Hiro, and Zorome all watched the room together. The elder parasite reminisced, "It was right here. I was standing at this exact spot when I noticed you guys."

"Hiro gave you and your partner your names here," Zorome added, also remembering the day clearly.

"I can barely remember it," Hiro remarked to both of them. "But I'm glad I did."

"I was acually raised in this room," Kyouko also pointed out. "I was maybe three years old when I was let in here for the first time and gained my earliest memories of Yasuto-kun. We had been created on the same day, and in the Nursery, the Adults always noted that even as newborns, we interacted quite a bit. Of course, this is the earliest I can remember personally, but there are some pictures of us together in the Nursery. I can't imagine a life without him by my side, in fact, because he's been in it for so long." She mildly blushed at that fact. "That thing you call love, Hiro? That's what me and Yasuto-kun have shared for a long time."

Meanwhile, in an open grass field/tree area of the Garden, which was mostly barren due to the weather, Miku, Kokoro, and Mitsuru all watched over as they recalled memories they shared. Miku pointed out, "Remember when I created that flower crown for you, Kokoro?"

"Oh yeah," Kokoro replied, smiling as she remembered the crown. "When I showed it off to Mitsuru, he lit right up and looked away..."

Mitsuru blushed as Kokoro laughed, recalling his shyness at seeing her wear the crown. "Come on, I wasn't that embarrassed."

"You could barely bring yourself to say she looked cute with it on," Miku pointed out to Mitsuru. "I'd say you were pretty embarrassed." She then let out a sigh. "God, to think, me and Kokoro grew so apart from you after the incident with Hiro... I wish we never had."

"Me neither," Mitsuru and Kokoro both agreed at the same time, causing both of them to look right at each other in confusion and blush. Mitsuru followed with, "My apologies."

"No, it was me," Kokoro replied with a chuckle.

...

A little while later, the whole gang stopped in front of a testing room, which was full of pilots-to-be who were either wearing headsets and completing various educational tests on computers or were lying down on tables and being administered shots. "This room looks all sorts of creepy," Ikuno noted to everyone. "I don't recall this."

"Me and my partner were here quite a bit," Kyouko remarked. "We weren't subject to a whole bunch of shots like these kids are, though. In fact, I can recall only one injection we had before we left. We instead spent most of our time on the computers here. By the age of 11, APE estimated we had the cognitive abilities of brand new parasites who graduated from the Garden. This place is why we graduated a year early."

"I wonder," Kokoro asked her. "Why are they injecting them so early and so often?"

"If I had to hazard a guess," Kyouko inferred. "Klaxosaur activity has picked up quite a bit. Maybe they're trying to ensure the parasites here don't need as much field training once they graduate."

"You're correct," a female Adult wearing a white uniform then suddenly interjected with beside them. "They want them to be more obedient and capable once they leave. By the way, aren't you guts not allowed he-?"

"They're with me," Kyouko interrupted her by flashing her badge. "They're fine."

"I see," the Adult replied, having been corrected. "My apologies for the misunderstanding."

"Um," Hiro then added to the conversation with. "Has a girl named Naomi-... I mean, has Code 703 returned here?"

The Adult shook her head. "The Code 703 you're referring to has not. Once a parasite leaves the Garden, they don't come back here permanently. Their number is recycled. In fact, the current Code 703 is in the Nursery right now."

...

Later on, outside, Squad 13 minus Hiro and Yasuto all gathered outside the Garden Laboratory, all discussing the day's events. "I'm surprised Hiro said we could go on without waiting for him," Goro said to the group. "Where do you think he went off to?"

Ichigo replied, somewhat annoyed by the decision, "Who knows?"

Then, out of nowhere, Kokoro stopped dead in her tracks to ask all of Squad 13 a question that left Kyouko in shock. "Hey, so, where do you think we came from?"

As Zorome let out a confused 'huh', Miku replied to her, "Well, Papa made us, obviously. Seems like an odd question to just throw out there at random."

Kyouko thought to herself as she looked on in worry, _"Kokoro, what the actual fuck are you doing?! Of all the places you could ask that question, you choose one of the nost secure!"_

Any further discussion was cut off by the angry voice of Nana as she called out to the gang. "Hey! Where the hell were you guys?!"

As Hiro attempted to step forward, ready to take the fall for the violation of orders, Kyouko halted him with her arm and stepped forward herself. "Nana, it was my idea. I made the rest of the squad fake ID cards so we could walk around the Garden. Code 085 does not know about this, and Code 015, as the leader of the squad, only gave her permission and did not participate in any of the planning. If you're going to discipline anyone or bring anyone up on charges in a court-martial, I should be the one most severely affected. It was my responsibility as the older pilot to help steer Squad 13 right and work with its leader to do so, and I failed at that mission." She was calm and collected in her words, and was ready to accept anything.

Nana paused, taking in Kyouko's statement for several seconds as she decided on an action. "I see. I'll talk with all of Squad 13 except for you together, and after that, I'll have a _very_ serious word with you personally, Code 099."

...

As Ichigo and Nine Alpha talked outside of a conference room above the lobby of the Garden Laboratory, the rest of Squad 13 having been dismissed after being talked to, it was now Kyouko's turn to go in and face the wrath of Nana for her actions. As she entered the room, she told Nana, "Don't hold back. Say what you must"

"I didn't have plans to hold back," Nana angrily snapped at her. "Sit the fuck down, right now, and shut your damn mouth for the rest of this meeting." As Kyouko took a seat in a chair opposite from Nana, she took a deep breath and began. "Code 099, you have a responsibility that few oyher parasites have. Multiple, in fact. You have nearly unfettered access to APE facilities and programs, and if that access fell into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of humanity as we know it. You not only violated a direct order from me and APE Garden Command, but you abused your God damn access to the Identification system and made counterfeit cards for your squad! I could have your access to that system and others that you can use revoked permanently, and I could even have you brought to a court-martial!" Nana pointed directly at Kyoyko's face, a clear sign of her anger. "Not only did you violate orders and abuse your access, but you also completely and utterly failed at guiding the parasites under you! You're eighteen and a half years old, and have been piloting for five and a half years, compared to the rest of your squad, who is only 14 and a half and has been piloting for only half of a year! Code 015 may be your leader, but it is still your responsibility to work with and train your newer and younger counterparts!"

Outside, Ichigo and Nine Alpha looked to the conference room, pausing their conversation as they witnessed the verbal beatdown Nana was giving Kyouko. Nine Alpha remarked to her, "I never thought she'd go this far in breaking the rules. She's such a loose cannon, and so is her partner. Again, excellent fighters, but disobedient."

Inside, Nana continued. "If this is how you're going to be, how the _fuck_ am I supposed to trust you in the battlefield?! How the _fuck_ am I going to sleep at night if you pull this shit again, but in an environment where a mistake can get someone killed very fucking easily, huh?!" She slammed her fist on the table in anger, which was barely audible from outside. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if any of you died, and if you're going to be this way outside of the battlefield, who's to say you won't do it in battle?!" She then lowered her voice and got close to an on-edge Kyouko. "If you _ever_ fucking pull a stunt like that again, Code 099, I'll make good on my threats to get you court-martialed and get your access and responsibilities stripped. Don't fucking tempt me, okay? _You_ may be a senior pilot, but _I_ still have the final say here." She then backed off of her. "And that's just how fucking it is, Code 099. I don't like using profanity, but by God, don't try to stop me when serious shit like this happens. I'm not gonna drag your ass to a courtroom or revoke anything even if I should, but don't for a fucking second think you're off the hook. From now until 2 days have passed since we get back to Mistilteinn, I am suspending you from piloting. If you try to pull a stunt like this and pilot anyway despite my orders, so help me God, I will rip your fucking head off and beat you senseless with it. Trust me." She smiled as her anger subsided, really driving the point home by the end. "Now, get the hell out."

Kyouko took a deep breath, holding everything in, and bowed as she sat up before rendering a salute to Nana. "Yes, ma'am." Inside, she was furious at many things, at Nana, at herself, at APE, and so on. _"This whole situation's a damn clusterfuck,"_ she thought to herself. _"Nana went overboard, but I still fucked up, I get it."_


End file.
